COUNCILLORS have granted approval to a massive multi million pound scheme to regenerate an area of Hatfield despite fears that it could be detrimental to the long-term future of the town centre.

The new District Centre will see up to 267 new homes, shops, health centre, restaurant and hotel built on a ten-hectare site at the former Hatfield aerodrome in Comet Way. Work has already got underway on developing homes on the site, which also serves as a business centre for the University of Hertfordshire and companies including T-Mobile.

Chief planning officer at Welwyn Hatfield Council Chris Conway said the development would provide some much-needed services in the area.

He said: "The residents already living on that site are desperate for some sort of facilities to be provided there.

"There are already 8,000 people working on that site and there will eventually be up to 1,600 homes with nowhere to go for a paper or coffee. This will be a neighbourhood centre serving those people and we are confident with the research we have done that it will not compete with the town centre."

Hatfield town centre has been earmarked for a £50 million re-vamp to revitalise the area, with work due to begin next year.

District councillor Michael Long said: "We have worked hard at building up a new town centre and now we have this which is going to do untold damage to what we are trying to achieve."

Members of Hatfield Town Council also objected to the proposal while managers of the Ramada Jarvis and Beales Hotel expressed concerns about the need for a new hotel.

However, at a meeting of the planning committee on Thursday night, councillors agreed to support the proposal, which will also include a bus terminal and pub, claiming extra facilities were needed in the area.

Councillor Sue Jones added: "There are many young families living on the aerodrome site who desperately need the facilities there and we have to take the whole of the area into account, not just parts of it.

"I think the knock-on effects of this development will be good for the whole of Hatfield."