Andrew Lewin, local Labour MP for Welwyn Hatfield has made his letter to the Secretary of State opposing a quarry on Ellenbrook Fields, Hatfield, public.

The full letter is available below.

The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

6th October 2025

Dear Secretary of State,

As the Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield, I am writing with regard to the future of Ellenbrook Fields in Hatfield.

Brett Aggregates application – a brief history

In November 2024, a Planning Inquiry was held to review a second application from Brett Aggregrates to quarry for sand and gravel at Ellenbrook. This follows a judgement in January 2022, when the Planning Inspectorate rejected an appeal from Brett Aggregates. At that time, the Inspector made the following conclusion:

“I consider that the harm to the Green Belt, along with the harm to the character, appearance and amenity of the area, and to pedestrian safety, is not clearly outweighed by the benefits of aggregate extraction.”

Despite this clear judgement, Hertfordshire County Council, then run by the Conservative Party, refused to remove the Ellenbrook site from their minerals plan. This emboldened Brett Aggregrates to return to with a second application, which duly came forward in 2024. When the second application went to a Planning Inquiry, Hertfordshire County Council withdrew their objection, despite the problems with the site, the previous judgement and the views of local residents.

In May 2025 there was a change in political control at Hertfordshire County Council, which is now run by the Liberal Democrats. I wrote to the new Leader of the Council and asked him to use his authority to withdraw the support of the council for the quarry. He declined.

Why I am writing to you

I understand that the recommendations of the November 2024 Planning Inquiry will now cross your desk. I feel compelled to write to you as the Secretary of State, in order to stand up for constituents in Hatfield whose views I do not believe were represented by the Conservative or Liberal Democrat administrations in Hertfordshire.

I fully understand that you must respond to the recommendation of the Planning Inspector in a quasi-judicial capacity and that party politics will play no part in your decision.

That said, I also believe that we are only at this juncture because of the failings of Hertfordshire County Council. Had they honoured the 2022 judgement, removed Ellenbrook from the Hertfordshire minerals plan and found an alternative site in the county, you would not have been placed in this position.

The case against a quarry at Ellenbrook

I made an official submission to the Planning Inspector in November 2024. I hope you are able to read that submission in full, but I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly restate the key points:

The proposed site for the quarry is located in the varied habitats of Ellenbrook Country Park. In 2022, the previous inspector was clear that a quarry would cause harm, “not outweighed by the benefits of aggregate extraction.” I believe that is still the case.

The original Section 106 Agreement agreed in 2001 set out requirements for Ellenbrook Fields to be leased to a Trust and managed in the public interest as a Country Park. This legal agreement was never honoured in full.

The proposed quarry will be situated near to the known bromate contamination of public and private groundwater supplies. On this, I encouraged the Inspector to consult with the Environment Agency and look to the precautionary principle. In short, that it cannot be right to approve any proposal for a quarry that has a credible risk of damaging our local water supply.

Quarrying has taken place in and around Hatfield for nearly 100 years. We have made a significant contribution to meeting national demand for sand and gravel.

The objections to a quarry at Ellenbrook to are not because people in our town do not want to play our part in a national effort.

I have explained to my constituents that as the Member of Parliament, I never had any formal influence over this decision. Equally, they know and expect me to fight their corner and champion their interests, which I will always do.

Having been let down by successive Conservative and Liberal Democrat administrations at Hertfordshire County Council on this issue – people in Hatfield needed someone to speak for them. I have done my best and I resolved that it would not be complete without writing to you and plainly setting out the history and the case for Ellenbrook.

Given the importance of this issue to my constituents, I have made this letter public.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Lewin

Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield