Keep Baldock in Business

How will Baldock businesses be impacted if the road under the railway bridge becomes a “a single lane of traffic…controlled by traffic lights”?

The "Growing Baldock" masterplan risks harming the heart of our town by cutting businesses off from out-of-town customers, and yet no work has been done to analyse the impact. The businesses that make Baldock a community seem to be an afterthought in these plans.

This is the last chance to get Urban & Civic, North Herts Council and Highways to think again. 

Urban & Civic, the 'masterplanners' appointed by the County Council, plan to reduce the road under the railway bridge to a single-lane shuttle system in 2027. The space freed up will be used for a cycle lane. They also want to ban left turns at Whitehorse Street for all traffic not just lorries. 

We're likely to see traffic jams build on North Road, Clothall Road, Letchworth Road and Royston Road. 

They want to deter cars from entering Baldock to get local people walking and cycling, but this could also deter customers from outside Baldock, especially those coming via North Road. This risks crippling our shops, cafes, and pubs before new residents arrive to boost trade—potentially years later.

Shops, businesses and restaurants are only mentioned briefly in the Strategic Masterplan.  Businesses have been overlooked. No analysis has been undertaken. We explored this more at Urban & Civic's drop-in session on 12 July (write-up here) - they confirmed they hadn't thought about what it might mean for businesses.

We need to act NOW to protect our town’s businesses and jobs. North Herts Council signed off the Masterplan in June and the developers will be back to ask for full planning permission in the autumn. 

Please complete our business survey if you are a local business. Or if you visit Baldock's businesses complete our customer survey.