Restore the chalk stream meadow at Wrights Farm, Pirton
Wrights Farm Working Group and Wild About Pirton have started an online petition to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) to work with them in order to restore the chalk and spring meadows at the former farm.
In 2019, HCC submitted plans for four dwellings on the land of Wright Farm in Pirton, which were rejected by North Herts Council’s (NHC) planning committee. HCC appealed which again was rejected by the Planning Inspector. A Freedom of Information request by Pirton residents has revealed that HCC have already spent more than £100K on planning this undertaking and are still set to start again with a new planning consultant, spending even more of taxpayers money to go ahead with building on the chalk stream meadow on the site. Wrights Farm used to be a working farm, latterly for equestrian use, and is owned by HCC. After the demolition of existing farm buildings the site has been left derelict for 5 years now, earning the council no rent.
The rejected plan would destroy the chalk spring meadow by draining it. It would also see housing built in an area outside of the village boundary. The Wrights Farm Working Group and Wild About Pirton are campaigning to restore the meadow to its former state and for the chalk stream to be protected. They have started a petition on the HCC website asking for the council to stop ignoring the legitimate concerns of the village’s residents and work with them to safeguard the future of this unique environment. In their latest sustainability strategy HCC has identified to goal to improve biodiversity on their land by 20 per cent by 2030 and improve wildlife in our land and water by 20 per cent by 2050. Restoring the unique meadows of Wright Farm to their true potential would be a crucial step in the right direction.
I and North Herts & Stevenage Green Party support the petition and ask you to please do the same: https://democracy.hertfordshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=1117&fbclid=IwAR3iTf2viIp-VRD-hx2PFlmEs_A6bEP7UtOyYjdLazxUNrT-uyKg0D6cvEA
Anni Sander
Green Campaigner Hitchin & Rural
Please note:
This petition is hosted on the Hertfordshire County Council website. There's a known issue that this site is blocked for users from time to time. If you find it is blocked when trying to access please contact their Democratic Services officer via Theresa.Baker@hertfordshire.gov.uk
