Vanessa Gregory’s Post

This is only part of an article which perhaps explains why St Albans has not been able to produce a Local Plan since 1994, party political squabbling. Engendering a belief amongst residents that if you protest shout and scream you can stop all new developments and anger when obviously that fails. Look! St Albans came into being in Feb 2013 after a previous attempt to pass a draft Local Plan had failed to pass at Full Council in December 2012. Two further attempts since have failed. Our aim was to host design charrettes between landowners, developers and the community to co design concept plans using community co created and endorsed design codes. We have had our success in the shape of Oak Tree Gardens and well received co created concept Masterplan for the then City Centre Opportunity Site. Both charrettes were externally facilitated. However failure to keep the community involved and vested interests through to the pre application stage, together with change of administration, the scheme was dropped and an architectural competition ensued. Unless and until politicians can agree to work together with the community to produce a Local Plan St Albans is subject to a greater degree of development by appeal. Look! St Albans is calling for a reset button 🔘. Unless St Albans people are involved in a constructive way to build consensus, then we will carry on with the background of hostility and a lack of sympathetic designs to St Albans and types of homes that St Albans so desperately needs. All local people sympathetic to our ethos aims and objectives are welcome to join us to try to press the reset button.