Radlett: Settlement overview and required infrastructure

Radlett is the fourth largest settlement within Hertsmere and also provides services and amenities for nearby villages and hamlets. Despite its village character, Radlett has many of the services of a small town with a busy district centre running along Watling Street, an ancient Roman road.

The Radlett North and Radlett South Conservation Areas cover the centre of Radlett, and are focussed along Watling Street, Cobden Hill and some surrounding roads.

Following the introduction of the railway in 1868, development of the residential area to the east and west of Watling Street began, including public housing at Battlers Green Drive. By the outbreak of the Second World War there were around 800 homes and 3,500 people. Radlett continued to grow after the war, including additional public housing at Willow Way. The Newberries Estate, east of the railway line, which was completed during the 1950s and 1960s.

Radlett district centre is a key retail and leisure hub for the area. Watling Street has a high proportion of independent retail shops, cafes and restaurants when compared with other parts of the borough, as well as a variety of other services including GP surgery, multiple places of worship, the Radlett Centre with its cultural and entertainment programme, and health and beauty outlets.

Radlett does not have any secondary school provision and its economic output is lower than the larger built-up areas within the borough as it functions primarily as a commuter settlement. The railway remains the primary focus of public transport in Radlett, but it also has bus links to St Albans, Borehamwood, Watford and Shenley.

Radlett has accommodated a relatively small number of new homes in recent years; many of these proposals have either been the redevelopment of existing larger family homes or small schemes below 5 units.

Radlett Neighbourhood Plan
The Radlett Neighbourhood Plan (RNP) is part of the development plan for the borough, providing guidance on the type and location of development. The principles contained in the RNP may also inform the treatment of sites to be allocated in Radlett in so far as they are relevant to their setting, location and an efficient use of the land.

Key issues and challenges
• Existing pressures on key services within Radlett such as transport, education and healthcare can be partly attributed to the wider catchment area that its facilities serve.
• Lack of affordable housing delivered on-site as part of housing schemes.
• The absence of a secondary school within Radlett.
• Impact on local character from redevelopment of existing homes into both larger single houses and apartment blocks.
• Peak time congestion on Watling Street.
• Lack of available brownfield sites in Radlett.

Radlett statistics
• Population: 8,190
• Built-up area: 1.3 sq miles / 3.2 sq km
• Population density: 6,675 people per sq mile / 2,577 people per sq km
• Population change between 2011 Census and 2021 Census: +0.03%
• New homes built in current Local Plan period (2012-27): 174

• Proposed new homes: 250
• Proposed Green Belt area: 3.68 hectares
• Change to number of new homes proposed in 2021: -67%
• Change to area of Green Belt proposed in 2021: (includes new brownfield site in the Green Belt) -87%**

Required infrastructure
The Hertsmere Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) Phase 1 report and IDP Phase 2 report previously identified the following infrastructure upgrades needed. Infrastructure requirements for the Local Plan will continue to be reviewed before the plan is submitted for independent examination. Infrastructure requirements for the Local Plan will continue to be reviewed before the plan is submitted for independent examination.
•Rail and active travel – The South Central Growth and Transport Plan includes a package of measures to improve the viability of access to Radlett Railway Station by cycling.
• Primary education – The level of housing growth previously anticipated in Radlett would have equated to a need for at least 2 forms of primary school entry, through expansions to existing schools and/or the provision of an entirely new school. The revised number of new homes proposed will have a lower impact on primary school place demand.
• Primary healthcare – Based upon the potential distribution of development around the borough, the NHS (through the local Integrated Care Board) has previously indicated a need for a new general practice surgery within Radlett, which could potentially be accommodated through the relocation/expansion of the existing Red House Surgery.
•Secondary education - The education authority has previously indicated a need for a new secondary school to meet the needs of the Watford-Bushey-Radlett school planning area. However, it has advised that Radlett would not be a suitable location for a new secondary school due to its distance from Watford and Bushey and due to it being too small to support its own secondary school.
•Green infrastructure – There are broad deficits in various types of green infrastructure provision across Radlett, which the Local Plan will need to help address.

Further information Further information can be found in the South West Hertfordshire Joint Strategic Plan, Strategic Infrastructure Baseline Study 2023.

Give us your views on proposed development sites in Radlett