More of the Spring Clean in our March & April Newsletter plus the Councillors’ Community meeting, the role of a community group in planning applications, Butts Close update and a visit to Grimes Graves. Read, enjoy and tell us what you think!
Churchgate Regeneration 
Last year North Herts Council appointed Lambert Smith Hampton to help with the next steps. The result of that consultation is here. More is on the Council’s website – just click here.
Do we need a Town Council? Hitchin Initiative are promoting this and North Herts Council are asking for residents’ opinions.
20 mph in Hitchin – does it work? Our November/December newsletter reflected on changes to Bearton Road to support this.
Luton Airport, now rebranded as Luton Rising, is seeking a Development Consent Order to allow it to increase its passenger numbers from 18 million per year to 32 million by 2038. Plans of this size are regarded as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, and as such are required to undergo an examination by the Planning Inspectorate which will prepare a report to the Minister of Transport who has the final say on whether the development can go ahead. In order to have our views considered, Hitchin Forum has prepared a submission to the Planning Inspectorate outlining its arguments opposing the development. You can read the submission here –Hitchin Forum Summary of case.
The required Public Examination of Luton Airport’s owners, Luton Rising’s (LR’s) application for the Development Consent Order (DCO) closed on February 10th. The final round of submissions to the Examination, consisting of 113 documents, was published on 9th February on the National Infrastructure Planning website. These included statements of common ground between Luton Rising and various stakeholders such as National Highways, local councils (including both North Hertfordshire Council and Hertfordshire County Council) and Thames Water. These documents list issues which have arisen during the Examination, stating the applicant’s (i.e. Luton Rising’s) and the stakeholder’s positions, and whether or not there is agreement between them. Those areas where there is disagreement are likely to be those on which the Inspectors will focus in order to make their recommendation. Areas of disagreement include surface access issues, aircraft noise and increased carbon emissions.
The Inspectors have compiled their report and recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport, which had to be submitted 3 months after the end of the Inquiry (i.e. May 10th). The Secretary of State has 3 months to publish a decision. The timetable was set before the general election was announced, and we have new secretaries of State, so it could be that this timetable is disrupted to some extent.
A fuller version of this brief account can be found here;
https://www.hitchinforum.org.uk/luton-airport-update-march-2024/
The latest news on Luton is here!
Highover Farm Development. There is an amended plan available on the NHC website – if you have difficulty with that link the Application number is 18/01154/OP. The amended plan is NTS2d Illustrative Masterplan (received 24.01.2023) under Related Documents/View associated documents. The Forum had been involved in a 2019 meeting with the developers and others and the meeting minutes are here. Comments on the plans are included in our January 2022 newsletter. North Herts Council Planning Committee approved the amended plan at its meeting on October 12th 2023, despite representations against this, and despite an excellent commentary on the plans in this video! Work on site looks set to start….
The North Herts Local Plan The Inspectors final verdict arrived on September 8th and was adopted at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on November 2nd 2022 and at Full Council on November 8th 2022 – the full report is here.
Hitchin Footpaths 
– How You Can Help For some years, Hitchin Forum members have worked in coordination with Hertfordshire County Council’s then Countryside Access Officer for our area. Read more here about what we do and what can be done for the town’s 100+ footpaths and bridleways.
Friends of Butts Close –
Butts Close is the oldest open space in Hitchin with a long history of use stretching back to late medieval times, when it was a sporting ground for archery. The Friends help take care of it, do some extra litter clearance and even some planting – Tony who coordinates the group is pictured here (photo Simon Maddison). The latest newsletter is here (March 2025) and a Butts Close Species Records 2013-23 here (which will download to your computer). There is more about the Friends here.
Air Quality in Hitchin – what is happening?
What else do we do? 
The Forum exists to develop and channel energy and enthusiasm for the town. We work to highlight things that we think need to change and improve the town. Information on all of our current and recent campaigns, issues and concerns are available here. We have organized working groups to look at the main issues as they arise 
– eg. the town centre, transport, open spaces and recreation, planning applications and planning policies More details here with info on the planning system.
Hitchin Forum was formed in 1992 as a non-political umbrella to bring together people and organizations to challenge developments that we think will damage our heritage and future- more history is here.
Read more about Hitchin, its history and the changes here.
Members are regularly updated on issues and meetings, by occasional emails and a 2 monthly newsletter – present & previous ones are here. We hold several members’ meetings through the year. Do join us! Anyone with an interest in Hitchin can join the Forum, either as an individual or as a nominated representative of an organization in the town. If you do want to be more involved then tell us – we often need an extra pair of hands! But – there is no obligation to do more than sign up – that is support enough. It is important that we have a wide membership base, partly so that we can hear a wide range of opinions, and also that we hear about issues in all corners of the town – membership details here.
Contact the co-chairs at chair@hitchinforum.org.uk