Welwyn Garden City & district · Local news you can trust
Councillors want the Environment Agency to investigate smells blamed on the Cattlegate Farm plant, which its operator says can take 52,000 tonnes a year.
Read the full story
Planning
Welwyn Hatfield Planning Committee Off Again: 135 Homes Wait
Green Belt plans for 100 homes at Stanborough and 35 at Cuffley wait until 22 October. The committee has not met since July, and call-in rules change.
Council
Welwyn Garden City Parish Council: £25 a Year From 2027
The second consultation runs 17 September to 31 October. Fifteen councillors, eight wards, and £25 at band D in year one, £63 to £100 later.
Planning
New Road Stanborough: 100 homes backed by officers
Officers recommend approval for up to 100 homes on Green Belt land at Stanborough, despite 120 objections. Welwyn Hatfield's committee decides on Thursday 10 September.
Planning
Cuffley: 35 more homes backed on Northaw Road East
Officers back 35 homes at Colesdale Farm, Cuffley, against the parish council and 32 objections. With sites either side, 229 homes are now planned on that stretch.
Fireworks
Hatfield and Welwyn Fireworks: 3 Displays, None Free
Firework Champions at Hatfield Park on 12 September, Brocket Hall on 1 November, Essendon on 6 November. The council runs no free display at all.
Christmas
Welwyn Garden City Christmas Lights: 21 Nov Switch-On
The council's calendar puts the free town centre event on Saturday 21 November 2026, with the light trail running from 15 November. Hatfield's date is not out.
Pantomime
Welwyn Garden City Panto: Cheapest Seats on 4 Dates
Dick Whittington runs at Campus West from 11 December to 3 January. Only four of the 27 family performances are priced at the cheapest Standard tier.
Remembrance
Remembrance Sunday Welwyn Hatfield: 8 Nov, 10.30am
Hatfield's parade leaves Hatfield House at 10.30am and Great North Road closes. Welwyn Garden City assembles on The Campus for a 10.50am Howardsgate service.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Welwyn Hatfield Street Trading: 5 Pitches to Every Street
Every street in the borough would become a consent street, replacing a 1993 rule that allows just five. The consultation closes 11.59pm on 28 September.
Welwyn Garden City
Moors Walk Car Park: Resurfacing Runs to End of October
Work on the free 88-space car park started on 1 September and runs in two phases. It stays open, but the spaces available move as the work goes round the site.
Local Info
Welwyn Garden City Bin Days: Christmas Runs to 25 Jan
Bins move a day later at every bank holiday, and the Christmas run does not get back to normal until the week of 25 January 2027. Garden waste is £60.
Local Info
Parking in Welwyn Garden City: 30 Mins Free, Then £2.35
Every council car park tariff from 7 April 2026, the 20 that cost nothing, and the one in Hatfield that charges on a Sunday when the rest does not.
Welwyn Garden City was laid out from 1920 as the second garden city, and the plan is still visible in it: the tree-lined parkway, the separation of houses from industry, the deliberate low density. Hatfield next door grew a different way, around an aerodrome and a great house and now a university. Hertford, the county town, and Ware sit east of both on the Lea.
Welwyn Online covers all four. Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield share one borough council; Hertford and Ware are in a different district, so the answer to a question about bins or planning depends on which side of the boundary you are. We name the right authority every time and link to its own record.
Nothing is published here that we cannot link to a source.