09 Dec 2024
Campaigners against district Green Belt developments have reacted to the news that SADC has submitted its Local Plan 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.
A public consultation was held recently to assess the Plan’s legal compliance and soundness in one of the final stages of the process, following which a review determined that there were no ‘showstoppers’ or ‘red flags’ to prevent its submission.
Last week SADC’s planning policy and climate committee approved the next step in the process, and 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.
The Inspector is likely to begin the examination next month, and it will eventually include a series of public hearings.
But a final decision may not be reached until early 2026 and if the Local Plan is then ruled as sound, it will be presented to the council for adoption.
St Albans council leader Cllr Paul de Kort said: “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.”
But campaigners are still holding out for the Inspector to uncover flaws in the Plan.
Gee Smeadley, spokesperson for CLASH and Save North St Albans Greenbelt, said it was not too late to prevent the development of land off Harpenden Road: “As well as dealing with all the individual applications from [developers] Cala and [landowners] St Albans School, we welcome the opportunity to present our expert evidence to Planning Inspectors in the Local Plan process.
“We know this is the wrong location for technical reasons otherwise it would have been delivered years ago. The flooding and highways issues cannot be resolved. North St Albans is also part of the ecological corridor of Heartwood Forest. The climate emergency isn’t getting better any time soon with current Government proposals to do away with Green Belt. We also cannot see how the maths works to release the most expensive land for affordable housing. So all in all, there are certainly many factors that mean our campaign is as resolved as ever.
“As a council officer said in the planning policy and climate meeting, the Plan may pass with substantial changes (up to 20 per cent difference). If the Plan passes with North St Albans still within it, again, without resolution of the issues there can be no building!”
Dr Robert Wareing has been leading the fight to protect Bedmond Lane Wildlife Meadow from development bay Cala Homes for decades.
“I can only hope that the independent Planning Inspector appointed by the Government is persuaded by the compelling evidence I – and others, especially HMWT – submitted under Regulations 18 and 19.
“This meadow is unique in St Albans and its biodiversity andecological value is recognised by a number of independent ecologists (including those working for Cala) yet this is not a factor considered by SADC – despite its importance in both national and (claimed) local policies, even though this has repeatedly been drawn to their attention during so-called ‘consultation’.
“Nor is biodiversity and ecological value a criterion adopted by Arup in differentiating between different Green Belt sites which is perverse (more particularly now, given the drive by the new Government to prioritise building on grey belt rather than Green Belt). These are fundamental flaws that call into question the Local Plan’s soundness and validity. Thus it could fail.
“If, however, it passes, we’re in trouble! Almost certainly, this will result in development of the meadow, but the final option – as in most wars – would then be to stop fighting and negotiate a compromise settlement.”
Shirani St Ledger McCarthy, spokesperson for Keep Chiswell Green, said they were hugely disappointed that SADC officers have again pushed through what appears to us to be another unsound Local Plan.
“It will be interesting to see whether pressure from central government to ‘just build, build, build’ influences the Planning Inspectorate to overlook the blatant problems with the Plan and to accept it, but this Plan definitely does not solve planning and housing problems in the district.
“Even superficial examination of the Plan shows that there will be problems pretty quickly into its usage. We are particularly disappointed that issues that have been raised by residents, campaign groups and other respondents to the two consultations have been ignored.
“Most concerns raised received the response ‘Noted’. Elected councillors have been relegated to ‘yes men’ – not given the opportunity or credited with the ability to understand and make material improvements in the selection of sites where the local knowledge of the councillors could have added significant benefits to the discussions.
“There is abundant ability within the district for this Plan to have been great with some co-operation and goodwill, but the officers at the Council have ignored this, ploughing on across our Green Belt in particular.”
She stressed: “Keep Chiswell Green will continue to monitor the progress of the Local Plan examination and will contribute if possible to the examination process. A key issue that has not been publicly explored by SADC is the report by consultants AECOM who put forward various scenarios for providing housing in the district.
“Half of these scenarios do not include development in the south of the district where there has already been substantial development in recent years and much more already planned
“Keep Chiswell Green will want the Planning Inspectors to explore whether the scenario chosen by SADC is actually the optimal scenario for the district.
“KCG will also want the Planning Inspectorate to examine whether the district, with its 28 Conservation Areas and nationally significant history, can reasonably accommodate the quantum of additional housing being imposed on it, now and into the future.
“If the Planning Inspectorate is blind to our concerns, KCG, and our fellow-campaigners in the District Green Belt Alliance, will be monitoring all new Green Belt applications to ensure strict compliance with the policies in the plan that will help local residents and businesses.
“We will also be putting pressure on SADC to improve their roadmap for the formulation of the next Local Plan work on which will have to start within 12-24 months of the current draft being adopted.
“More particularly, KCG will be looking to influence the respective roles and powers of the council’s officers compared to the elected councillors. The close attention we have paid to the planning system in the St Albans district over the last 2.5 years informs us that our elected councillors struggle to represent us in the way in which we would like them to, resulting in a power dynamic which cannot be described as democratic.”
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 planning policy and climate 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.
