The consultation period for the Stanstead Abbotts and St Margaret’s Neighbourhood Plan was launched on 30th January 2025 and finished on 14th March 2025. Local residents and stakeholders were invited to comment on the draft Plan and the representations were published via East Herts District Council’s (EHDC) website (https://www.eastherts.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning-activity-east-herts/stanstead-abbotts-and-st-margarets). You can source all of the relevant documents on this webpage.

Approximately 50 representations were made, and many local people voiced their support for the Plan and the volunteers in the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (NPSG) who have worked tirelessly to get a well-balanced Plan together. Some respondents raised quite detailed questions about our site, and these will all be addressed at a planning application stage. Some comments were made about the local swift population, and we will certainly take specialist advice and will expect to accommodate the swifts by integrating swift nesting bricks in the exterior walls when the houses are built. Conservation is at the heart of the Webster family ethos.

We have noted all comments raised about our site and while we await confirmation of the referendum vote (date not yet provided) we are considering the comments made and reviewing our design.

The Independent Examiner has now been appointed to consider the representations and look at how the draft Neighbourhood Plan has been put together. He has raised questions with EHDC and the Parish Councils about some aspects of the Neighbourhood Plan and representations made by others. Responses were received on 21st July, and as a result some of the wording in the Plan will change.

We have been heartened by local reaction and the depth of questions raised by the independent examiner, Andrew Ashcroft. The responses received clearly demonstrate the hard work put in to create a robust Plan that meets East Herts District Council’s target of 94 additional dwellings in the area.

It is likely that the examiner will now consider the representations and responses. He can call a hearing, and it is likely that he will now work up a “fact check report” that he will submit to EHDC and the Parish Councils. He will then produce his Final Report and a date for a referendum will be fixed.