Every year or so the Knebworth Parish Council organises a public meeting to discuss the one political issue that local people are prepared to give up an evening to discuss: development on the Green Belt surrounding the village.
I am of a generation that has largely missed out on any participation in a public political process. Poltics, which is, at its heart, about how groups make decisions, now proceeds without those groups ever assembling. A top-down process involving spin doctors, focus groups and lobbying by well-funded special interest groups seems to have taken its place. This is a sad loss.
The meeting yesterday was officially to discuss which of the seven sites around Knebworth that had been identified were most suitable. A proposal to build a secondary school to the south of the village was presented by Mrs Pomerance, the leader of the We Need a School campaign. This site is not one of those identified for development around Knebworth, but seemed to have strong support from Henry Lytton-Cobbold (Lord Lytton) on whose land it would be built.
The debate was lively and informed. Many ordinary individuals spoke passionately from the floor. Sadly few of the elected officials seemed prepared to take a strong lead, although District Councillor Thomas Brindley, from Codicote, did make some spirited interventions from the floor.
According to John Bantick, leader of the Parish Council, representations to them cannot be forwarded to NHDC. The recommended way of responding to the proposals is via
the NHDC website (click through the link marked 'Online Consultation Software'. This is a fairly clunky process and requires one to register with the NHDC website, although it is possible to send an email to ldfconsultations@north-herts.gov.uk or even write a letter to:
LDF Team
North Hertfordshire District Council
Gernon Road
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire
SG6 3JF
