Local Plan for St Albans District is submitted for final examination
A Local Plan for the sustainable growth of St Albans District has been submitted to the Government today (Friday 29 November 2024) for examination.
St Albans City and District Council has produced the Local Plan (LP) which identifies land for future housing and commercial development along with the required infrastructure.
A public consultation was held recently to assess the LP’s legal compliance and soundness in one of the final stages of the process.
A report on the feedback said no ‘showstoppers’ or ‘red flags’ were raised that would fundamentally alter the LP or prevent it progressing.
Councillors on the Planning Policy and Climate Committee considered the report’s findings, which allowed the LP to be submitted, at its meeting on Thursday 28 November.
An independent Planning Inspector will now be appointed by the Government to decide whether the LP has been properly prepared and is both effective and in line with national policies.
Councillor Paul de Kort, the Committee’s Chair and Council Leader, said after the meeting: “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 LP 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, which will eventually include a series of public hearings, next month.
Their decision may not be reached until early 2026 and if they rule the LP is sound, it may then be presented to the Council for adoption.
The LP allows for the building of 15,000 new homes in the District up to 2041 at designated sites. This figure is in accordance with current national planning policy guidelines and will include 1,200 social rent properties.
The LP also provides for £750 million of new infrastructure to support the proposed new residential areas including nine primary schools, four secondary schools, improvements to public transport, locations for 15,000 jobs, and green spaces and health facilities.
Residents, community groups, businesses, neighbouring local authorities, statutory bodies and other organisations helped shape the document by giving their views in consultations.
Councillor de Kort said: “We have prepared the LP 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 LP 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 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 LP 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.
Media contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727 819533, john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.