Comments on the 2,650-home Birchall Garden Suburb are open until 14 November. It puts 1,300 homes in Welwyn Hatfield, more than the draft Local Plan's 926.
The plan for up to 2,650 homes at Birchall Garden Suburb, on the south-east edge of Welwyn Garden City, is open for comment again. The developers have replaced most of the documents they submitted in 2022, and residents now have until 14 November to respond.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and East Herts Council announced the new round of consultation on 15 October. The council’s site notice, dated 14 October, asks for comments by 14 November 2026.
The application is the same one the councils have been considering for more than four years. It was submitted in June 2022 by Tarmac Trading Ltd and Birchall Gardens LLP, under reference 6/2022/1395/OUTLINE. What has changed is the paperwork behind it: a new planning statement, design framework, transport assessment and a fully rewritten environmental statement, uploaded between 7 and 13 October.
What the application asks for
The site covers about 220 hectares north of the A414, east of Hall Grove and Panshanger, and either side of Birchall Lane and Cole Green Lane. It crosses the boundary between the two councils.
According to the application description and the developers’ environmental statement, the scheme includes:
- up to 2,650 homes: up to 1,300 in Welwyn Hatfield and up to 1,350 in East Herts
- an education campus in East Herts with a secondary school of up to eight forms of entry, a sixth form and a primary school
- a second, two-form-entry primary school on the Welwyn Hatfield side
- two local centres, which could hold shops, a pub, takeaways, a hotel or a care home
- up to 15 Gypsy and Traveller pitches across up to three sites
- road access from the A414, the B195 and Cole Green Lane, with the B195 realigned
- a large central park, Birchall Common, on the old landfill in the middle of the site
- extraction of about 162,000 tonnes of sand and gravel before building starts
It is an outline application. Only the access points would be fixed now. The layout and design of the homes would come later, in further applications.
More homes than the Local Plan allows for
The point that matters most for this borough is the number of homes on the Welwyn Hatfield side, and it does not match either of the council’s own plans.
When the current Local Plan was adopted in 2023, the planning inspector kept a strip of land beside the A414, known as the Southern Fields, in the Green Belt. The developers’ planning statement says that left at least 600 homes on the Welwyn Hatfield side. The inspector’s concern was how building there would affect the open countryside south of the A414.
The council’s draft Local Plan, now out for consultation, would take the Southern Fields out of the Green Belt. Its site allocations document puts the Welwyn Hatfield part of Birchall, site SA WGC2, at approximately 926 homes. The same document gives 925 in its summary table and 936 in the site description.
The application asks for up to 1,300. The developers’ statement says about 700 of those would be on the Southern Fields.
The council’s site notice advertises the application as one which “does not accord with the provisions of the development plan”. The council also addressed the numbers directly in its announcement. It said the application “seeks permission for a total number of homes greater than that proposed through the emerging Local Plan”, and that the two would be “considered independently”.
Affordable homes
The share of affordable housing would vary across the site, according to the planning statement:
| Part of the site | Affordable housing |
|---|---|
| East Herts land | up to 40% |
| Welwyn Hatfield land outside the Green Belt | up to 30% |
| The Southern Fields (Green Belt) | starting point of 45% |
The 45% figure comes from the government’s “golden rules” for building on Green Belt land. The draft Local Plan would set a higher bar of at least 50% on land released from the Green Belt. All of these figures are subject to viability testing and to a Section 106 agreement that has not been written yet.
What the developers’ own assessment says
The non-technical summary of the environmental statement, dated September 2026, sets out the effects the developers themselves expect:
- landscape change in parts of the site judged “moderate to major adverse”, reduced by planting
- lasting significant effects on two ancient woodlands, Holwellpark Wood and Blackthorn Wood
- the loss of 12.9 hectares of grade 2 and 57.8 hectares of grade 3a farmland, the best and most versatile grades
- one tenant farmer losing the arable part of their business
- “moderate adverse” harm to the setting of the listed Birchall Farm and Holwellhyde Farm, and to Panshanger Park
- about 390 construction jobs a year and about 800 jobs in the schools and local centres
The statement assumes building starts in 2028, the first homes are finished in 2028/29 and the last in 2038/39. That works out at an average of about 240 homes a year, peaking at 300.
Earlier objections are still on the register. In 2023 the Environment Agency, the county’s lead local flood authority and Hertfordshire County Council’s transport team all lodged objections. The planning statement says the new documents respond to consultation replies received so far.
Why the developers say it should be approved
The developers argue the council is short of housing. Their statement says Welwyn Hatfield can show only about 2.3 years of housing land supply, against the five years national policy expects. It says the borough built 1,058 homes in the three years to 2024/25, against a requirement of 2,291.
The statement says its aim is “a roadmap to the positive determination of the Applications within a reasonable timeframe before the end of this year”.
Councillor Rose Grewal, Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Planning, said: “This consultation provides an opportunity for residents, businesses and other interested parties to review the additional information that has been submitted in support of the Birchall Garden Suburb planning application and to make their views known.”
What it means for you
If you live near the site, a letter from the council should reach you. Anyone can comment, letter or not.
- Deadline: 14 November 2026, according to the site notice. The council’s register shows the consultation period running to 23 November, but aim for the earlier date.
- Online: search reference 6/2022/1395/OUTLINE on the Welwyn Hatfield planning register and use “Comment on this application”.
- By post: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6AE, quoting the reference.
- East Herts: the same scheme has a duplicate application, 3/22/1315/OUT, with East Herts Council. Comments on that one go to East Herts.
- Your address will be public. The site notice warns that comments are published online with the writer’s address.
This is a separate exercise from the consultation on the draft Local Plan, which closes on 5 November. A comment on one is not counted on the other. If the Southern Fields matter to you, you can respond to both.
The wards covered by the application are Panshanger, Howlands, Hatfield East, and Brookmans Park and Little Heath. Other planning decisions in the borough are on our planning news page.
Have your say