29 Nov 2024
No ‘showstoppers’ or ‘red flags’ were raised in a review of St Albans’ draft Local Plan which would prevent it from being submitted for Government approval.
SADC’s blueprint for planning development in the district for the period up to 2041 has been three years in the making, and today it moved into the final stages of examination.
A public consultation was held recently to assess the Plan’s legal compliance and soundness in one of the final stages of the process.
An independent Planning Inspector will now be appointed by the Government to decide whether the Plan has been properly prepared and is both effective and in line with national policies.
St Albans council leader Cllr Paul de Kort said after this week’s meeting of the planning policy and climate committee, which approved the Plan’s submission: “This is a landmark moment for the district.
“The production of a Local Plan is one of the most challenging and important tasks that a council like ours must undertake.
“This Plan is the culmination of over three years of hard work, countless studies, meetings and discussions, and I am proud that we have reached this stage. I would like to thank all those who have been involved including our residents who responded to the consultations we held.”
The Planning Inspector is likely to begin the examination next month, and it will eventually include a series of public hearings.
A final decision may not be reached until early 2026 and if the Local Plan is ruled as sound, it may then be presented to the council for adoption.
Cllr de Kort added: “We have prepared the Local PLan very carefully, taking account of the lessons of the past, and are as confident as we can be that it will pass the examination.
“It’s important that we adopt an Local Plan as soon as we can because it will offer our communities protection from piecemeal, speculative developments which we are currently vulnerable to.
“It’s these sort of developments, rather than ones which have been thoroughly planned, which put pressure on existing infrastructure such as schools and are often of major concern to residents.”
The last version of the Local Plan – which allows for the building of 15,000 homes across the district in the period up to 2041 – was withdrawn in November 2020.
The report to the committee detailed the feedback from the latest consultation, known as the Regulation 19 Publication.
This showed that many major stakeholders considered the Local Plan as legally compliant and that a duty to cooperate with major stakeholders had been met.
This included Hertfordshire County Council, the Environment Agency, Natural England, Historic England, National Highways and six neighbouring planning authorities including Dacorum, Hertsmere, Luton, and Watford Borough Councils.
