Council is on the hunt for more unused urban sites to support housing needs

The council is on the hunt again for previously developed land (brownfield sites) or urban areas to enable the development of new homes and supporting infrastructure in order to meet the district’s future population and economic growth.

The government calculated that Three Rivers would need to build 12,624 homes over 20 years, but the council said it would not bring forward a Local Plan with such a high number due to Green Belt constraints.

Instead, the council is asking site owners to put forward brownfield sites that might accommodate new housing in order to protect the Green Belt.

The council is making this not a call for new Green Belt sites but only for previously developed ones.  All the brownfield sites promoted to the local authority will be reviewed and these will help to inform the content of the next stages of the new Local Plan.

Previous calls for sites have indicated that up to 1,000 new homes could be accommodated in urban areas.

Deputy Council Leader and Local Plan Lead, Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst said, " Clearly having new build on previously built up sites such as builders' yards or warehousing than in the Green Belt will help us achieve new homes for our communities and indeed could clear up and use derelict areas. So we welcome suggestions from land owners if their site is not already in draft consultations to put it forward."

These sites should be submitted to us on a suitable map showing the boundary of the site in red, along with a completed Call for Sites Submission Form, downloadable at https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/new-local-plan.

The call for brownfield sites period  runs for three weeks, ending at 5pm on Wednesday 12 July 2023.