A CGI version of what the One Hatfield Town Centre project will look like.
- Credit: Archant
A major consultation was organised in Hatfield in 2015, and again in 2016, to allow the public to give their views on how to redevelop the town.
Out of that several points by over 900 respondents were summarised by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council while laying out its 2030+ vision for Hatfield.
Among the many points expressed by residents were improving the town centre s offer of shops, safer transport and better east-west connections, especially by foot/cycle, along with looking at the quality and quantity of housing stock in the town and the growth and retention of its residents and students through employment.
The façade collapsed in 2017 in Hatfield town centre
- Credit: Archant
Since the industrial decline in Hatfield during the 1990s, residents and politicians started examining whether the New Towns worked.
But even during this period between 1990 and 2000, plans were afoot to develop new areas of Hatfield with the Galleria, expansion of the University of Hertfordshire and Hatfield Business Park being the most notable example.
The development of the Galleria proved controversial, with developers of the site, the Carroll Group, going into receivership and later it becoming part of a legal battle. Landsec, its current owners, took it over in 2005.