Welwyn Garden City News

Hatfield Anglia in Bloom 2026: Hatfield Silver Gilt, WGC Parkway Gold Hatfield took Silver Gilt and the Small City title at Anglia in Bloom, Parkway and Howardsgate won Gold, and a Hatfield children's garden won a national RHS award. 28 September 2026 · 3 min read Hatfield Southfield School's Adventure Golf Course Turns One Brocket Hall built an adventure golf course inside Southfield School in Hatfield. A year on, pupils count strokes on scorecards and visit the club itself. 24 September 2026 · 6 min read Cuffley Cuffley Smell: Motion Blames Biogas Plant, 52,000 Tonnes 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. 20 September 2026 · 9 min read Business Søstrene Grene Welwyn Garden City Opens Friday 25 September Søstrene Grene opens in the Howard Centre at 9:59am on Friday 25 September, with a giveaway for the first 100. Nando's and Carter & George follow. 20 September 2026 · 6 min read Hatfield Hatfield Hostel at Beales Hotel Approved to March 2028 The former Beales Hotel on Comet Way can stay a 53-room homeless hostel until 31 March 2028, with no objections. 142 flats are approved to replace it. 17 September 2026 · 5 min read Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Hatfield House Prices Fall for a Third Month The average Welwyn Hatfield home was £448,681 in July, down £6,075 since April. Annual growth has halved to 3.0%, still twice the UK rate. 17 September 2026 · 5 min read Council Welwyn Hatfield Council Merger Paused: 2028 Date in Doubt The borough helped write the four-council plan that would have abolished it in 2028. Its leaders now want to know if ministers will refund what was spent. 13 September 2026 · 9 min read 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. 10 September 2026 · 9 min read 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. 10 September 2026 · 9 min read 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. 6 September 2026 · 6 min read 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. 6 September 2026 · 6 min read 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. 3 September 2026 · 7 min read 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. 3 September 2026 · 3 min read Business Welwyn Garden City BID Ballot: 2.75% Levy, Vote From 23 Sept Town centre businesses vote from 23 September on a third five-year BID term at 2.75% of rateable value. The result is announced on 30 October. What it costs, and who pays. 30 August 2026 · 8 min read Business Peckers Chicken Plans Welwyn Garden City Site on Howardsgate Peckers wants to turn 41 Howardsgate, empty since May, into a fried chicken restaurant and takeaway open to 11pm on Saturdays. Comments close 23 September. 30 August 2026 · 5 min read Local Plan Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan: 4,428 homes for WGC The final Local Plan sets out 4,428 homes for Welwyn Garden City and 2,978 for Hatfield. Full Council votes 16 September, then a six-week consultation. 27 August 2026 · 5 min read Campus West Campus West on BIFA cinema ballot: vote by 21 Sept Welwyn Garden City's council-run three-screen cinema is on the BIFA Cinema of the Year ballot. Public voting closes Monday 21 September, one vote per email. 27 August 2026 · 3 min read Welwyn Garden City Sports Direct signs refused at 26 Stonehills, WGC Welwyn Hatfield refused all 24 signs Frasers Group wanted at 26 Stonehills, the Poundland unit, on conservation grounds. It stops the signage, not the store. 23 August 2026 · 5 min read Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Hatfield house prices fall £4,261 in a month Welwyn Hatfield's average fell to £450,696 in June, the only drop in Hertfordshire. Annual growth is still 5.8%, but prices sit below the August 2022 peak. 20 August 2026 · 5 min read Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Hatfield benefit claims hit 2,560, highest since 2021 The claimant count rose to 2,560 in July, up 165 on the year and the biggest rise in Hertfordshire. Under-25s and over-50s account for most of the increase. 20 August 2026 · 4 min read Welwyn Garden City Panshanger Golf Course: 500-home plan dropped by Cabinet Cabinet has dropped the idea of up to 500 homes and a swimming pool on Panshanger Golf Course after 4,402 people answered its survey and residents split 45% to 45%. No WGC pool site this council term. 16 August 2026 · 6 min read Hatfield Hatfield Market Place wins regional award, final 6 Nov Hatfield's rebuilt Market Place has won the East of England Constructing Excellence award for regeneration and conservation, its second win of the summer, and goes to the national final on 6 November. 16 August 2026 · 4 min read Hatfield Hatfield PSPO from 24 August: £100 fines at Parkhouse Court A new Public Spaces Protection Order covers Parkhouse Court in Hatfield from 24 August. Street drinking, begging and littering carry a £100 penalty for three years. 13 August 2026 · 7 min read Welwyn Garden City Stanborough Park path: £44,000 repair agreed for autumn The eroded riverside path under Stanborough Road is being rebuilt in a £44,000 job agreed on 11 August, timed for the autumn so the Splashlands season is not disrupted. 13 August 2026 · 3 min read