At High Willows, Vineyards Road, Northaw, Potters Bar, EN6 4PE

Application No. 6/2020/0784/FULL
Erection of 2 x 6-bedroom detached dwellings with garages
At High Willows, Vineyards Road, Northaw, Potters Bar, EN6 4PE

CPRE Hertfordshire oppose this application for inappropriate development in the Green Belt,
contrary to the Green Belt policies in the National Planning Policy Framework, the current
Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan and the Submission Local Plan currently subject to Examination in
Public.
In the Design and Access Statement the Applicant considers the site should be classed as “an
“infill” gap between The Wilderness and The Vineyards”. By implication (though it is not
explicitly stated), they therefore assume that it can be considered to be appropriate
development under NPPF 145(e) which allows for limited infill development within villages.
There is no definition of ‘limited infilling’ in the NPPF, nor any guidance there, to assist in
determining the planning balance. In the case of R (Tate) v. Northumberland County Council
[2018] EWCA Civ 1519 the Court of Appeal confirmed that “the question of whether a
particular proposed development is to be regarded as ‘limited infilling’ in a village for the
purposes of the policy (in the NPPF) will always be essentially a question of fact and planning
judgment for the planning decision-maker.
High Willows is not within the village of Northaw, or in any way directly associated with the
ribbon extension eastward from Northaw along Vineyards Road. It is even beyond the larger
‘parcel’ P84 which was drawn around Northaw for assessment of the impact of the village
being washed over by the Green Belt in the preparation of the Submission Local Plan.