The consultation closes Friday 31 July 2026.
The council's survey does not ask what you think about 500 homes on green belt.
Urgent action :
Have you been told the full story?
The public should be given fair and transparent information about the council’s masterplan.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is consulting on a new leisure centre at Panshanger Golf Complex — funded by building up to 500 homes on green belt land. The council's survey never mentions the magnitude of the housing.
This site publishes some of what's missing.
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Why We Care
We are not against new leisure facilities. Welwyn Garden City has no public swimming pool, and that's a real gap worth addressing.
What concerns us is how it's being paid for. Up to 500 homes would be built on green belt land at Panshanger to fund it — and the council's own consultation barely mentions them.
Welwyn Garden City is one of only two garden cities in England. The open land at Panshanger is part of what gives this town its character. Before that changes permanently, residents deserve to see the full picture: how much of the site would be built on, what happens to the trees and the River Mimram, and whether local roads, GPs, dentists and schools can cope.
We're asking for transparency, and for the decision to be made properly.
What does 500 homes actually look like?
We can all picture a swimming pool. Nobody has shown us the housing.
The council's published material contains no image of the housing development, no site area, and no figure for how much green space would remain. So we built our own estimate — an existing 50-home development in Welwyn Garden City, repeated ten times across the site.
When we showed this to the council's project lead, he told us it was reasonably accurate — but that the actual density would be lower, meaning the housing would be spread wider still.
This is our estimate, not the council's plan. The council's own FAQ confirms an indicative masterplan exists. We have formally asked for it to be published. Until it is, this is the best picture residents have.
How this mock-up was created:
We found a recently built development in Welwyn Garden City — the Appletree Way site, approximately 50 homes with a similar mix of house types.
We then repeated that development ten times across the Panshanger Golf Complex to represent 500 homes, and added a leisure centre and car park sized on Gosling Sports Park.
We have confirmed with council staff that it’s reasonably accurate — but noted the density would be lower than a standard development, meaning the homes would be spread across more land, not less.
What we don't know:
The council has not published the site area, the developable area, the assumed density, or how much green space would remain.
Its own FAQ confirms an indicative masterplan exists.
Who are we?
We're residents of Welwyn Garden City — families, walkers, cyclists, neighbours. We're not a political party and we're not affiliated with the council. We've spent our own time reading the Local Plan, national green belt policy and the council's own documents, because we think decisions this permanent should be made in the open.
