Battle rages over plans to turn fields that inspired EM Forster’s classic Howards End into car park

On Nov 14, 2022

Battle rages over plans to turn fields that inspired EM Forster’s classic Howards End into a CAR PARK and toilet block as Historic England becomes latest to blast proposals

Campaigners battling plans to build on the Forster Country fields in Stevenage
Proposal being considered would include tarmacking over natural meadows
Residents are furious and Oscar-winner Emma Thompson has backed their fight
Now chiefs at Historic England have written of their ‘concerns’ over the proposal

Published: 13:40, 14 November 2022 | Updated: 14:37, 14 November 2022

Heritage chiefs have raised their ‘concerns’ over controversial plans – blasted by Hollywood star Emma Thompson – to build a car park and toilet block on a conservation site that inspired EM Forster’s Howards End.

Campaigners have been waging a furious war to try and get the ‘baffling’ proposals to build on the Forster Country fields site, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, thrown out.

The scheme, which is part of the St Nicholas conservation area, is being considered by planning bosses at Stevenage Borough Council.

If backed, they would see developers tarmacking over natural meadows, adding gravel paths and building an electrical grounding tower – in a move campaigners say would ruin the natural beauty of the stretch of land.

An application for 800 houses around the area was given the green light by the council in 2020 which was understood locally to have been on the basis that the conservation fields would be protected and restored.

Campaigners, including Extinction Rebellion activists, are battling ‘baffling’ plans to build on the Forster Country fields (pictured). Historic England says it is ‘concerned’ by the scheme

Hollywood actress Emma Thompson has joined calls to scrap the plans, having won an Oscar for Best Actress in the theatrical version of EM Forster’s novel

The planning application for the car park and toilet which could be built at conservation site. Councillors who will decide on the scheme are still waiting for a detailed planning design

The fields inspired the 1910 novel, and subsequent film, Howards End, with EM Forster having grown up in a five-bedroom house on the edge of Stevenage.

Ms Thompson, who won an Oscar for Best Actress Oscar after starring in the theatrical version of Howards End, has been among those demanding a rethink from the council.

And now, leaders at Historic England have become the latest to express their ‘concerns’ over the scheme, noting the plan risked ‘cluttering the natural landscape with a proliferation of man-made features’.

In a letter to Stevenage council. Neville Doe, an assistant inspector at Historic England, said: ‘We are concerned that the proposed change of use of the existing agricultural land to a country park will result in physical and visual change to the character and appearance of the conservation area, and also to the wider setting of the heritage assets referenced above -which in our opinion would result in a moderate level of less than substantial harm to their significance.’

The comments are the latest in a long-running war to protect the land, which has received the backing of 63-year-old millionaire Ms Thompson.

In a move that stunned local residents earlier this year, the Hollywood A-lister called on the council to reconsider their plans.

She said: ‘To destroy beautiful countryside in aid of a car park is bad enough but to destroy countryside with such a heritage and of such value to the economy in terms of tourism is sheer madness. It has to be re-thought.’

A portrait of famed British author EM Forster, who grew up in a five-bedroom house on the edge of Stevenage

The concern has been backed by countryside charity the CPRE, who said in a formal response to the plans: ‘The provision of the proposed car park … is hugely regrettable and an entirely inappropriate feature within land that should form an open countryside setting to Rooks Nest House.’

Author EM Forster took inspirations from the meadows near his former home for one of his greatest novels

Born in London on January 1, 1879, Edward Morgan Forster who grew up to become one of Britain’s most celebrated authors and was even nominated for the Nobel prize.

Edward’s father died when he was just a toddler, and he was raised by his mother and paternal aunts.

Educated first at Tonbridge School, Kent, and then at the University of Cambridge, EM Forster is best known for his novels Howards End, written in 1910, and 1924’s A Passage to India.

Growing up, he lived in a five-bedroom house on the edge of Stevenage, with Forster Country fields inspiring Howard’s End – which later was adapted for the big screen featuring Emma Thompson.

During the early 20th century, the young novelist travelled across Europe before writing Howard’s End.

As a conscientious objector in the First World War, Forster served as a Chief Searcher (for missing servicemen) for the British Red Cross in Alexandria, Egypt. He spent a later spell in India, which inspired A Passage to India, for which he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

In 1968 he was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature. Edward died on June 7, 1970, aged 91.

It added the plans would ‘introduce alien features into this highly valued rural landscape’ – a view echoed by campaigners from campaigning group Friends of Forster Country.

John Spiers, chairman of the group, told HertsLive : ‘You wouldn’t find a council building a car park on the West Yorkshire moors of Wuthering Heights or the Dorset vales of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. We are pained and baffled by Stevenage council’s failure to love Forster Country.

‘The whole point of restoring the meadow was to restore just that – the meadow, as it would have been in Forster’s day.

‘It turns out that the council has been negotiating something totally different – a municipal amenity that has nothing in common with the natural landscape that inspired Stevenage’s most famous son and put us on the map around the world.

He added: ‘We’ve been fighting for over 30 years and still we fight on – to stop the car park, preserve the heritage character of the proposed meadow and raise awareness of the houses that are to be built over Forster’s fields. It’s not too late for Stevenage council to change its mind.’

Campaigners argue that the original proposal relied on the restoration of the meadow and that there had been no mention of a car park or toilet block.

A detailed planning application for the proposal has not yet been submitted to the council – and there is no word on when this might happen.

However, MailOnline understands that it is unlikely the plan will be thrown out completely – as campaigners hope.

Stevenage Borough Council says councillors sitting on the authority’s planning committee had already approved a 2017 application to build a development in the north of Stevenage, which included proposals for a new country park.

As part of this, some elements, such as layout and landscaping, were required to be considered again in the future by the committee, through what is known as a ‘reserved matters’ application.

Councillor Graham Lawrence, deputy leader of the opposition on the local Tory party, is one of the ward councillors who covers the area of the field. He also sits on the council’s planning committee.

Chairman of the Friends of Forster Country campaigning group John Spiers is leading calls to scrap the plans

He told MailOnline: ‘I do really feel for some of these people because it is one of the last open spaces in the area. But in planning terms there’s not really a lot that can be done about it. However, there will be an open-minded debate on the proposals.’

The council insisted there would be an open consultation so that ‘all local people can have their say’.

Speaking of the planning application, a spokesperson for the authority added: ‘At the time, the committee made it very clear that the proposals for the Country Park must be of the highest of ecological and environmental standards, and respect local heritage including that of E.M. Forster.

‘The council has received the proposed “reserved matters” application, including the proposed layout of the country park, and is carrying out public consultation. All residents are encouraged share their comments.

‘We look forward to hearing your views on how, together, we can ensure this country park is an asset to the whole community in Stevenage, before the application is considered by the planning and development committee.’