Fore Street flats proposal turned down

Plans to redevelop a prominent site in Fore Street to provide 13 flats and a shop have been turned down by planning officers, due to poor design and overdvelopment.

The site includes the former tyre centre opposite the junction of Fore Street and South Street and extends back to Gascoyne Way.

The proposed three storey building would reflect the historic pattern and style of development along Fore Street, including facing brickwork with contemporary sash windows and stone cills and arches. 

Planning permission was first sought in March 2021, with additional and amended details added in 2022 and earlier this year. There were 28 objections submitted by members of the public.

In a decision notice issued on Tuesday (1st August), the council's planning department concluded that the proposals did not meet local planning polices, specifically:

"The unrelieved form and massing of the proposal would represent poor design, which overdevelops the site, fails to provide appropriate levels of amenity space for occupiers and harms the appearance of the surrounding area, and the setting of the Hertford Conservation Area"

"In the absence of any landscape strategy or landscape proposals, the application would result in a poor-quality car dominated appearance"

"Insufficient information has been provided in regard to the provision and location of refuse and recycling bins"

"... with regard to suitable design measures to mitigate noise impacts, occupiers of the proposed flats would be likely to be exposed to unacceptable background noise levels to the detriment of their amenity,"

Developers have 12 weeks in which to submit an appeal to the government's Planning Inspectorate, if they so choose.