Heritage watchdog ‘strongly advises’ against Market Square Hub
- Heritage and environment watchdog Historic England (HE) ‘strongly advises’ Dacorum Borough Council against allowing the Health Hub to be built on Market Square
- There are fears the five-storey Hub could help create a ‘canyon’ effect on the lovely historic gardens, one of Hemel’s key green spaces
- The nation’s history experts make scathing criticism of the £135m scheme
- Historic England ‘objects in principle’ to the ‘infilling’ of the open space by the five storey Hub
- HE says the Market Square and Water Gardens were carefully designed in the 1950s by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, one of the 20th century’s leading landscape architects ‘at the very heart of the New Town.’
- The Market Square is said to be one of ‘several viewpoints across the [Water] Gardens providing views to the opposite side of the valley … establishing a connection between the old and new towns.’
- Jellicoe ‘advocated for Waterhouse Street to be set back to some extent and maintained at a low height, similar to the three-storey blocks at the corner of Bridge Street.’
- He wanted to prevent ‘a ‘canyon’ effect, which would not only encroach upon the gardens but also create an illusion of reduced size.’
- ‘there was a strong intention for the town centre and the water gardens to relate to one another’.
- So ‘it is concerning that the new Local Plan is proposing the Square as a development site to be filled-in with new buildings.’
- This would lead to the loss of an important area of open space and part of the urban design of the town.’
- HE ‘object in principle to the allocation of this site, and we strongly advise the Council should delete this allocation.’
- Below is the link to HE’s letter to the Council (see the list under H for Historic England):
- https://letstalk.dacorum.gov.uk/responses-to-regulation-19-consultation
- OR
- https://ehq-production-europe.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/7c2743950042e5240d9adae8465fd415cb9294dd/original/1740502911/ed247e0e1ad17811375c31c5a58d884e_ID-1588%20Historic%20England%20Representation%20POSTAL626_Redacted.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4KKNQAKIPIPQP5NM%2F20260111%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260111T034207Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9f617de0a52a4ce3498b07c6dc1a8f8a4069122c84398c55fe3a732265cd4098