Full Council agrees to speed up Local Plan process

Members agreed on Tuesday 9 July to complete the Local Plan process by February 2025, subject to any government announcements. Residents will get a final say before the plan is submitted to a government-appointed inspectorate to see if the council’s plan is ‘sound’.

The Local Plan guides decisions on future development proposals for thousands of new homes and associated infrastructure and employment to meet its future economic and population needs. The council’s Local Plan proposes less than half of the government’s target of circa 11,000 dwellings until 2041.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Leader of Three Rivers District Council and Lead Member of the Local Plan, said: “We remain committed to pushing for the Lower Housing Growth Option, which will deliver the right type of housing and amount of housing we need.

“We have injected a further £73,110 earlier this year, as part of the approved 2024/25 budget, to ensure we meet this shortened timescale and be able to submit our Local Plan by February 2025.

“The new government might tell us to revise our housing number, but we will continue to do what’s right for the district and prioritise brownfield sites (previously developed land) to protect as much of our green belt as possible.”