Over the past two months, separate applications for 600 and 86 home developments in Radlett have come forward and a list of potential development sites has been unveiled.

Taking together all major submitted applications and potential future allocations, something like 2,300 homes could be on the way for a settlement that had just 3,145 households at the 2011 census.

On Watling Street, shoppers near-unanimously oppose the developments as many pointed to the jam-packed village centre, without a free parking spot in sight, on a weekday morning.

Nicola Morley has seen plans for 86 properties near her home go in this month, prompting the household to enter an objection.  "It would be such a shame to see the picturesque open green space built on", adding “the amount of traffic going down these roads …I don’t know how they are going to cope".

While Radlett is known as a village - and there is no formal definition it needs to meet to remain such - Planning Inspectorate rulings mean planners consider it a ‘town’ for their purposes given its current size.

Inspectors have also noted a “demonstrable unmet need” for homes in the area.

“I totally accept people have to live somewhere,” said Shenley-based landscape gardener Richard Edwards. However, he highlighted how much busier traffic has become just within the four years he has lived in the area, as well as deteriorating road surfaces. “But I hope there is a plan to address those issues. Whether there is...I’m not sure.”

Residents pushed back on the idea the projects will make it easier for people to get on the housing ladder, highlighting that even smaller homes in Radlett - which has a £1.4m average house price according to Rightmove - will likely cost more than a million.

"It's just greedy housing developers," one claimed.

Applications progressing at the moment could bring a roughly 30 per cent increase in house numbers compared with census figures, but few of these are approved and most could still be challenged.

Meanwhile, those raised as potential allocation sites for the emerging local plan would bring a roughly 70 per cent increase, if all went through, but are still a long way off coming to fruition and many will likely not be taken forward.