New Local Plan

How we are planning for future growth and development in the district

In this section

New Local Plan

We are preparing a new Local Plan that will set out how we plan for future growth and development in Three Rivers District. This plan will form the blueprint for how we will sustainably develop the district until 2041, including managing needs for housing, jobs and supporting infrastructure – for example, shops, community facilities, transport, open spaces, schools and healthcare.

The new Local Plan will identify possible sites for development and will set out the policies against which we will assess planning applications.


Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation Part 4:
Three Rivers’ Preferred Local Plan Lower Housing Growth Option - Protecting More Green Belt Land

From Friday 27 October to Sunday 10 December 2023, we consulted on the council’s new plan for fewer houses and protecting the green belt. This consultation has now closed. Details of the consultation can be viewed below:

Associated Documents

Local Plan policies

The focus of the current consultation is housing growth, however following the previous rounds of Regulation consultation the council has been updating the policies against which planning applications will be considered in the future. We have taken on board your comments and discussed the updated policies at meetings of the Local Plan Sub-Committee. These policies have not yet been finalised, however if you wish to see the policy updates and what was discussed please down load the document below containing a table with links to the meeting papers and minutes where these policies were discussed.

Local Plan Sub-Committee updated policies table (PDF)

We conducted a public consultation about the new Local Plan in 2021 with an additional consultation undertaken earlier this year:

Previous Local Plan Regulation 18 consultations

Evidence base

We have conducted a variety of studies to help us develop the Local Plan. For more details, see our Evidence Base page.

Local Development Scheme

The Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable for the progress of the Local Plan. The scheme can be viewed here.