These FAQs have been prepared to provide more information about the emerging proposals, including the need for new leisure facilities, the potential role of housing in helping to fund them, the future of the golf course, and how local people can have their say.

No decision has been made at this time. The consultation is an opportunity to understand local views and help inform what happens next.

Proposal, positioning and public benefits

Q. What is being considered for the Panshanger site?

A. The council is exploring whether the Panshanger site could help meet future leisure, health and wellbeing needs in Welwyn Garden City. Early feasibility work suggests the site could have the potential to deliver a new swimming pool and leisure centre, community uses, health and wellbeing provision, walking routes, play space, accessible green space, homes and wider public benefits. At this stage, the masterplan is indicative, no decisions have been made and any proposal would need further consultation, technical work and future decision-making.

Q. Has a decision already been made?

A. No. The purpose of consultation is to understand local views before any decision is made about whether the site should be taken forward through the Local Plan process. Any future proposal would also require further technical work, detailed design, formal planning processes and further decision-making.

Q. What is the purpose of the project?

A. The purpose is to explore how Welwyn Garden City could meet identified future leisure needs, support healthier communities and create wider public benefits from a council-owned site. The proposal includes a range of elements, but the rationale starts with the opportunity to deliver new leisure provision that responds to identified community need.

Q. Is this really about leisure, or is it mainly about housing?

A. The proposal has been driven by the need to explore how new leisure provision could be delivered and funded. Homes are included because they could provide the funding mechanism needed to deliver the leisure facility and wider community benefits. The housing would also have benefits in its own right, including the potential to deliver social rented and family homes.  But it was not the starting point for the project.

Leisure need and community benefits

Q. Why does Welwyn Garden City need new leisure facilities?

A. The emerging sports strategy identifies a growing need for additional leisure provision, particularly swimming and indoor sports facilities. Population growth and changing patterns of leisure use mean that existing provision is expected to come under increasing pressure. A new facility could help meet current and future needs and support healthier, more active communities.

Q. What facilities could be included?

A. The indicative proposal includes a new swimming pool and leisure centre, which could include a six-lane swimming pool, teaching pool, gym, studios, sports hall, soft play, aqua play and cafe. The site could also include outdoor play and activity space, walking routes, community facilities, healthcare and wellbeing facilities and green space improvements.

Q. Who would benefit from the new facilities?

A. The ambition is to create facilities that could benefit residents across Welwyn Garden City and the wider borough, including families, young people, older residents, sports users and people who generally want to be more active.

Q. Would the proposal affect existing leisure facilities?

A. The proposed facility would be intended to complement, rather than simply duplicate, existing leisure provision. Further work is needed to understand operational arrangements and how the new facility could sit alongside the council’s wider leisure estate.

Q. Is this the same proposal that I’ve seen for paddle courts at Welwyn Football Club?

A. This is a separate proposal to the Welwyn Football Club proposal, which is being delivered by the private sector.  However the sites are adjacent and if both come forward they will be designed to work in a complimentary manner to ensure the best possible sporting facilities for residents.

Why Panshanger?

Q. Why is Panshanger being considered?

A. Panshanger is being considered because the site is within council ownership and early feasibility work indicates it could potentially accommodate the type of leisure provision required while also generating the funding needed to deliver it. The council’s ownership of the site gives it greater ability to shape the design, community benefits, housing mix and delivery principles than would be possible on many other sites.

Q. Have other sites been considered?

A. Previous options have been explored, but these were not considered financially viable or deliverable in the same way, in particular a number of studies were carried out at Gosling Stadium, but the overall cost to the taxpayer could have been up to £140 million and this was not considered financially viable. Panshanger is currently the site that appears to offer the strongest potential to deliver a new leisure facility in a financially viable way.

Q. Why can’t the council simply build the leisure facility somewhere else?

A. A new leisure facility requires a suitable site and a realistic funding route. The council has explored options and needs to consider land ownership, deliverability, cost, accessibility, planning, infrastructure and the ability to secure long-term public benefits. At this stage, Panshanger is being explored because it could potentially meet all those requirements.

Homes, funding and deliverability

Q. Why are homes included in the proposal? We already have too many being built and no infrastructure to support them.

A. Homes are included because they could provide a way to fund the new leisure facility and wider community benefits. The council recognises concerns about housing growth and pressure on local infrastructure. Any proposal would need to consider issues such as highways, healthcare, schools and local services through the Local Plan, consultation and any future planning process. The purpose of consultation is to understand local views before any further decisions are made.

Q. How many homes are being considered?

A. The indicative masterplan currently estimates approximately 500 homes.  This number is not final and would be subject to consultation, planning policy and future design development. The intention is not to maximise housing numbers, but to test whether a landscape-led proposal could deliver new leisure provision and wider benefits while remaining in keeping with the character of Welwyn Garden City.

Q. What type of homes could be provided?

A. The proposal could include a mix of homes, including family-sized dwellings and around 140 social rented homes.   

Q. Would social rented homes be separated from the rest of the development?

A. No. Social rented homes would be well integrated within the development. The overall approach would be to create a balanced and integrated community.

Q. Who would deliver the housing?

A. No delivery partner has been appointed and no final delivery route has been agreed at this early stage.

Golf provision

Q. What would happen to the existing golf course?

A. If the proposal progressed in its current form, the existing golf course would not remain as it is. Our consultation will hear from golf users and consider the impact on golf provision carefully.

Q. Are there enough other golf courses nearby?

A. There is significant golf provision within the wider area, with 55 x 18 hole courses (including 4 other local authority courses) within 15 miles of Welwyn Garden City.

Q. Isn’t Panshanger the most accessible golf course locally?

A. While there is a high level of golf provision within the wider area, affordability and accessibility are important considerations. We will consider what alternative provision could be available for current users if the proposal were taken forward.

Q. Could current golfers be supported to play elsewhere?

A. The council is exploring what alternative provision or support could be available if the proposal progresses. No arrangement has been agreed and this would need further discussion. The impact on current golf users would be one of the issues considered through consultation and future decision-making.

Green space, landscape and environment

Q. Is the council proposing to build on green belt?

A. The site is currently green belt, used as a golf course, but it is not generally accessible to the wider public.  The emerging proposal seeks to create a wider range of publicly accessible green space, recreation and community benefits, including walking routes, play areas and landscape improvements.  Any proposal to remove it from the green belt would be assessed and considered through the new Local Plan.

Q. How much green space would be retained?

A. The indicative masterplan is landscape-led and seeks to retain significant green space, particularly around the edges of the site, creating new walking routes and enhancing current outdoor areas. Further design work would be needed before exact details can be confirmed.

Q. What would happen to existing trees?

A. The current aspiration is to retain nearly 90% of existing trees. Further tree surveys and design work would be needed as the proposal develops, and tree retention will remain a key principle of any future masterplan.

Q. Would biodiversity be improved?

A. The emerging proposal includes the potential to improve biodiversity, particularly through enhancements to the western green space and the area around the lagoon.

Q. What about the Mimram Valley and local landscape character?

A. Any future proposal will consider landscape impact carefully and demonstrate how it reflects Welwyn Garden City principles and local distinctiveness.

Infrastructure and technical issues

Q. What about traffic and roads?

A. Traffic and highways impacts will be assessed in detail if the proposal progresses. Early-stage highways advice has been sought, but further technical work would be required before any planning application or final decision.

Q. What about drainage, sewerage and utilities?

A. Drainage, sewerage and utilities would need detailed technical assessment. They would form part of future technical work and would affect both design and viability.

Q. What about healthcare capacity?

A. The emerging proposal could include space for health provision, but this would depend on discussions with health partners and future demand.

Q. Would the new neighbourhood parade compete with existing shops?

A. The intention would be to create complementary local facilities that support the new leisure and community destination. The mix of uses has not been finalised and would be carefully considered alongside existing local centres such as Moors Walk.

Q. What would happen to the existing pub/bar/restaurant?

A. The current assumption is that the existing bar/restaurant would either be retained or re-provided as part of the emerging proposal. This would be confirmed through further design and commercial work.

Consultation and Local Plan process

Q. What is the consultation asking people?

A. The consultation should ask residents and stakeholders to consider the potential opportunity, benefits and impacts of using the Panshanger site to help deliver future leisure provision and wider community benefits. It should not be considered to be a finished scheme or a simple “yes/no” vote on a final masterplan.  If progressed it would need to come forward in the new Local Plan and there would need to be a planning application, both would have further more detailed consultation.

Q. How does this relate to the Local Plan?

A. The Local Plan process provides a route for the council to consider whether the site should be identified for a particular type of development and public benefit. If the site were included, the council could seek to set expectations around housing numbers, design quality, leisure provision, infrastructure and community benefits. 

Q. Does including the site in the Local Plan mean the development will definitely happen?

A. No. Inclusion in the Local Plan would not in itself grant planning permission or final approval for a scheme. It would establish the principle that the site could be considered for a defined purpose, subject to policy requirements, financial viability, consultation, technical work, future decisions and the planning process.