19 March 2026
The Growing Baldock development project is progressing with a series of updates and clarifications now submitted to North Herts Council (NHC).
The outline planning application, initially submitted to the council in October 2025, includes 3,200 homes, facilities for business, retail, healthcare, sports and leisure, as well as parks, open spaces, and new schools.
Additional information has been prepared in response to a request from NHC and Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) for more information on the Environmental Impact Assessment we submitted as part of the application. This is called a Regulation 25 request.
The additional information includes updating ecological impact assessments, and minor landscape changes, largely responding to comments on Weston Hills Local Nature Reserve.
Following feedback from HCC and Historic England, a Historic Environment Management Plan (HEMP) and a Draft Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) have now also been developed and attached to the supplementary environmental information submitted.
In addition to the ecological updates, we are also providing information in response to specific comments received from consultees during consultation, including:
- Parameter Plan: updates to the parameter plan to improve active travel connectivity, including small adjustments to access points and pedestrian routes at the North Road Gateway.
- Design and Access Statement: updates to design principles to clarify the widths of active travel corridors and reflect the updates to the North Road Gateway.
- Green Infrastructure Strategy: updates to the indicative sports pitch layouts as requested by Sport England and additions to the section on productive strategy, in relation to allotments.
An Interim Transport Response has also been prepared in response to feedback from stakeholders, including HCC and local community groups. Key topics raised in the feedback include:
- Clarity on traffic modelling and the impact of the development on local roads.
- Requests for improved active travel connections and public transport options.
- Concerns about the construction phase and its potential disruption to traffic and local amenities.
You can read the interim transport response here.
A comprehensive transport update report will follow in the coming months, where we will share the results of traffic modelling currently taking place using HCCs own strategic model (called the COMET model).
You can read an overall summary of all the updates here.
The council will now reconsult on the updated information submitted, and you can view the documents and leave comments on North Herts Council’s website or by entering reference number 25/02571/OP on the council’s planning portal. The consultation will run for 21 days.
We are aiming for a decision from the NHC Planning Committee this summer, after which the detailed design would be prepared in consultation with the community and submitted as a series of Reserved Matters Applications.
The team will be at the next Baldock and Villages Forum on Monday 23rd March and if you require additional information, have any questions, ideas or comments you can get in touch with the team anytime - growingbaldock@urbanandcivic.com or 07353 114 222.