East Herts planners back 276 homes in Gilston Village 7, near Hunsdon, at committee on 21 October. 65 are affordable; two council teams objected first.
East Herts Council’s planning committee decides on Wednesday 21 October whether to approve the detailed design of 276 homes in Gilston Village 7. Its planning officers recommend approval, subject to conditions.
Village 7 is the westernmost of the seven villages planned in the Gilston Area. It lies between Hunsdon and the A414, about seven miles south-west of Bishop’s Stortford and just north of Harlow. Church Lane runs through the middle of it.
The application is reference 3/25/0876/REM. The committee meets at 7pm at Wallfields, Hertford (East Herts Council, Development Management Committee, 21 October 2026).
What is being decided
Village 7 already has outline planning permission for up to 1,500 homes, granted in January 2025. That fixed the principle and the main access, a revised A414 and Church Lane junction. Wednesday’s application covers the detail for the first block of homes, known as phase 1b: layout, appearance, scale and landscaping.
An earlier application for phase 1a was approved in June 2026. It covered the roads, a transport corridor, a community heat hub, substations and green space, but no homes.
The whole Gilston allocation in the district plan is for 10,000 homes across seven villages, according to the officers’ report.
The 276 homes
The report sets out the mix:
- 211 market homes and 65 affordable homes, which is 23.6%
- of the affordable homes, 39 for affordable rent and 26 for shared ownership
- 12 wheelchair-accessible homes built to the M4(3) standard, against the 1% the legal agreement requires
- buildings mostly two to three storeys, with one four-storey apartment block on the greenway edge, the tallest building in the phase
Three-bedroom houses are the biggest group: 79 market and 10 affordable. The affordable homes lean towards smaller flats, with 23 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments. The report says the developer will balance that with larger affordable homes in later phases. The council’s housing officer accepted that.
The split between rent and shared ownership is 60:40. That is less weighted to rent than the council’s preferred 84:16, but it matches the indicative mix in the outline permission. The housing officer raised no concern.
The 23% affordable figure is the minimum the outline permission secured, based on a viability assessment.
The objections, and how they were settled
Only three letters came in from the public, all neutral. They asked for swift bricks in the homes.
The council’s own specialists were tougher. In August, its urban design officer and its landscape and arboriculture officer both lodged formal objections. Both said parking dominated the streets. Hertfordshire County Council, as highway authority, said it had insufficient information. It questioned cycle parking in rear gardens and parking at four plots.
All three changed position after amended plans. By 28 and 30 September each recorded no objection. The county still said “greater consideration should be given to unallocated spaces in future”.
The Hunsdon, Eastwick and Gilston Neighbourhood Plan Group raised concerns in November 2025. It said the application departed from the design code and had no non-residential uses. It also said the “RMA unit numbers seek to stay under Section 106 triggers”.
Why it is at committee
Officers would normally decide an application like this themselves. Councillor John Dunlop called it in. He said it was an early residential phase of Village 7 that would “strongly influence subsequent phases”.
He asked the committee to test whether cycling and walking are genuinely practical, and what is in place for residents from the first occupations “rather than relying on community infrastructure that may only arrive in later phases”.
What it means for you
- Want to speak at the meeting? The agenda page has a “register to speak” link for item 5a. The committee meets at 7pm on Wednesday 21 October.
- Live in Hunsdon, Eastwick or Gilston? This is the first housing phase that would be built near you. The Church Lane junction with the A414 is the development’s main access.
- Looking for an affordable home in East Herts? 39 of the homes would be for affordable rent. The council’s housing officer said they should be managed by a registered provider, with nomination rights secured in the legal agreement.
Our planning news page follows the bigger applications across the district.
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