We have been asked about the forestry work in Park Wood. The work is overdue management and harvesting (to pay for it) scheduled at the advice of our forestry consultant in consultation with the Forestry Commission. With replanting, and sunlight, the wood will regenerate quickly and in a much healthier state. The Forestry Commission has determined that the subcontractor took a little more than he should have done in the area fronting Park Lane and has adjusted the re-planting schedule accordingly, which we support.
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“Knebworth Estates… at a public open meeting in October 2006, offered that, if residential development was required at Knebworth’s village-edge by the LDF, it would look to donate the proceeds to Parish Charities as long as the Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust was a priority” Knebworth Sites Appraisal Report – December 2007 (www.knebworthoptionsreport.org)
North Herts District Council has put forward two sites that are owned by Knebworth Estates as part of its consultation – “Land Allocations – Additional Suggested Sites” – for the Local Development Framework. Although they are not the sites that Knebworth Estates would have chosen, I confirm that the offer made in 2006 stands. Should Knebworth Estates land be chosen 100% of the proceeds will go to Parish Charities. Any money raised from residential development on LDF sites in Knebworth Estates ownership would be split between the Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust and other Parish Charities. The Estate would also make sure community issues and concerns drive the design of any development. (See our full statement at www.knebworthgreen.net)
It’s a tough one to support, I know – but we have some tough issues facing us as a community. We stand to lose our Doctors’ Surgery, we stand to lose the heart of our High Street when Chas Lowe eventually relocates, we are already losing families from the village because of our Secondary School provision… Endowing ourselves beyond local authority budgets may be our best chance of survival as a vibrant rural community, and this may be our last chance of endowing ourselves. The LDF seeks to solve national housing issues, if we can solve local issues at the same time, we could make a positive out of a negative.
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com