Frequently Asked Questions

No. PottersBar.Vision campaigns for good planning across the whole of Potters Bar, not just on this site. We focus on the golf course because it is one of the largest proposed developments in the entire Hertsmere Local Plan, it raises serious unresolved flood and infrastructure questions, and it involves simultaneous Local Plan and planning application processes that both require a response.

We support housing development in the right places. We are not opposed to all development in Potters Bar. Our objection is to this specific proposal, at this scale, on this site — because the evidence shows it has not been demonstrated to be safe or justified.

Because the impacts of this development would be felt across the whole of Potters Bar, not just by immediate neighbours.

Traffic: Darkes Lane is the only access to this site. Every car journey to or from 550 homes passes through Darkes Lane and onto the already-congested Baker Street junction. The developer's own traffic assessment shows this junction would operate above practical capacity in the evening peak.

Drainage: The site is in a groundwater protection zone that serves drinking water sources across a wider area. Unresolved drainage issues could affect water quality beyond the immediate area.

Green Belt precedent: If this allocation proceeds, it sets a precedent for Green Belt development in Potters Bar that could make it harder to protect other Green Belt sites in the future.

Local Plan strategy: The Local Plan shapes the future of the whole borough. How this site is allocated affects the overall planning strategy for Potters Bar and Hertsmere.

Your objection counts — Hertsmere must consider every valid representation regardless of where you live.

Yes, and we acknowledge that. There is a genuine national and local need for more homes. PottersBar.Vision does not argue that no housing should be built in Potters Bar or in Hertsmere.

Our argument is specifically about this site. A developer-side consultant, using Hertsmere's own planning data, assessed the golf course as being able to accommodate just 42 to 59 homes after flood-risk filtering (RPS Sequential Test, August 2024). The developer is applying for 550 homes and Hertsmere is proposing to allocate 400. That is a tenfold discrepancy that must be explained. We are asking for an explanation — not a refusal to build anything.

There are several other planning consultations and developments under way or proposed in Potters Bar. We encourage all residents to engage with those too. The Hertsmere planning portal allows you to comment on any application.

We focus our resources on the golf course site because of its unique scale and complexity — not because other developments don't matter. We cannot lead detailed campaigns on every site, but we do signpost residents to official consultation pages and encourage everyone to engage with proposals that affect them. The links page has resources to help you do that.

These are two separate processes happening at the same time, and they require separate submissions.

The planning application (26/0427/OUTEI) is a developer's request for planning permission to build up to 550 homes now. The consultation closes on Wednesday 6 May 2026. You object to this via the Hertsmere planning portal or by email.

The Local Plan consultation (HPBA SA13) is about whether the site should be formally allocated for housing in Hertsmere's long-term planning framework (the Regulation 18 consultation). This is a separate submission to a separate process — deadline Thursday 29 May 2026. Submit at hertsmerelocalplan.commonplace.is.

Both are open now. Our objection builder will help you submit to whichever you choose — or to both.

Yes. Local planning authorities are legally required to consider all representations made during a consultation period. A large volume of well-reasoned objections is a material consideration in planning decisions — it cannot simply be ignored. And don't forget, you have to identify yourself for your objection to be heard.

Your objection is most effective when it raises specific, substantive concerns rather than general opposition. Our objection builder helps you do exactly that.

No, and this is an important distinction. The Environment Agency's letters should be treated as advice only. They expressly state that the EA reserves the right to change its position at any formal application stage. They are not planning clearance.

More importantly, the EA has required open-span bridges at all crossings over Potters Bar Brook since December 2023. As far as we know, those bridge designs have never been produced or reviewed. The EA's final position on any planning application has not been formed — because the designs the EA needs to make the assessment have not been provided.

The applicant describes a pedestrian and cycle path alongside Darkes Lane as "emergency access." Their own Design and Access Statement shows it is built to a bound aggregate (gravel-type) surface — not structurally rated for fire engines, which weigh 14–18 tonnes when loaded. The DAS uses conditional language — the path would serve emergency vehicles only "if necessary" — which does not amount to a guaranteed emergency route.

More critically, the applicant's own flood modelling shows that this path connects to the same stretch of Darkes Lane as the main vehicular entrance. In a flood event — when an emergency route would be needed most — both accesses are compromised at the same time. That is not a secondary access. It is two versions of the same single access.

Planning policy (NPPF paragraph 181(e)) requires safe access and escape routes for the lifetime of a development. On the applicant's own evidence, that requirement has not been met.

In August 2024, a planning consultancy called RPS submitted a Sequential Test for a nearby planning application (PB3 — application 24/1101/OUTEI). As part of that test, they were required to assess alternative sites with lower flood risk — including the golf course.

Using Hertsmere's own Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) data, and applying the flood-risk filtering that planning policy requires, RPS found that the golf course could accommodate just 42 to 59 homes. This is the only publicly available flood-filtered assessment of the site's capacity. The developer's application for 550 homes — roughly ten times that figure — needs to be reconciled with it.

In December 2025, Hertsmere refused planning application 24/1101/OUTEI — the "PB3" scheme, a large Green Belt development south of Potters Bar. One of the grounds for refusal was that the Flood Risk Sequential Test had not been satisfied: the council found that lower-risk alternative sites were available.

The golf course has a materially worse flood profile than PB3. If PB3 failed the Sequential Test, the same test should present at least as significant a hurdle for the golf course application — and potentially a higher one. Hertsmere would need to explain this inconsistency.

The Local Plan is the mechanism for determining the long-term use of this site. Hertsmere's new Local Plan is currently at Regulation 18 stage — the early public consultation phase. There will be further stages of consultation before any Local Plan is adopted.

If the current proposed allocation for housing (HPBA SA13) is not adopted, the Council would be free to consider other uses in a future revision. This is why representations on the Local Plan consultation matter as much as objections to the planning application.

The most important thing right now is to object to the planning application before the deadline of Wednesday 6 May 2026. You can also submit a representation on the Local Plan consultation (HPBA SA13) — deadline Thursday 29 May 2026 at hertsmerelocalplan.commonplace.is.

Beyond that: tell your neighbours. Share this website. If you have relevant professional expertise — in planning, engineering, ecology, hydrology, or law — and you'd like to contribute to this locally driven campaign, please get in touch.