Major campaign success for Hertfordshire’s countryside

We are encouraged to see that Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), has written to all MPs setting out his approach to the upcoming consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. And the key message is that local authorities are not expected to review the Green Belt to deliver housing.

This is a major success for our local Hertfordshire countryside. We have long been campaigning for these changes both locally and nationally. Here are some of the highlights from the DLUHC letter.

No more top-down housing targets

While there will be some method for calculating local housing need, this figure will be an advisory starting point, or guideline, not a mandatory target. It will be up to local planning authorities, working with their communities, to determine housing need, taking into account genuine constraints and what should be protected in each local area, be that Green Belt or other designated protected land, or the local character of an area, or heritage assets.

Stronger Green Belt protections

The National Planning Policy Framework will be further clarified, so it will be clear that local planning authorities are not expected to review the Green Belt to deliver housing.

Brownfield first

There will be further prioritisation of urban regeneration and brownfield redevelopment. Local councils will set their own Infrastructure Levy and will be able to set lower rates on brownfield over greenfield. The so-called ‘duty to cooperate’ will be scrapped, thereby stopping cities offloading their responsibilities to provide new housing onto green fields in neighbouring local authorities.

Affordable housing

It will be up to local planning authorities to increase the proportion of affordable housing if they wish, based on local need.

Local Plans

Places with adopted local plans will be free of the ‘five year land supply’ obligation. For local areas where their local plan is at an advanced stage of preparation, there will be a two year transitional arrangement. This will allow these areas to reassess their plans in accordance with these new changes to the planning system.

A rebalancing of the relationship between local Councils and the Planning Inspectorate

The changes will mean that Planning Inspectors should no longer override sensible local decision making, which is sensitive to and reflects local constraints and concerns. Inspectors will be required to take a more reasonable approach to authorities that have come forward with plans that take account of the concerns of their local communities.

Immediate implications for Hertfordshire’s countryside

Five of the ten local planning authorities in our county are currently preparing new local plans. These are Dacorum Borough, Hertsmere Borough, St Albans City & District, Three Rivers District, and Welwyn Hatfield Borough. We urge all of them to immediately reassess their calculation of housing need taking into full account the proportion of their district that is covered by a land protection designation, including Green Belt, the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation. Their housing need figure should be adjusted to ensure the ongoing protection of these areas and comply with the Secretary of State’s statement “that local planning authorities are not expected to review the Green Belt to deliver housing.”

Of the five Hertfordshire local authorities with adopted local plans, at least two are due for review within the next few months, East Hertfordshire and North Hertfordshire. The reviews must take full account of these new changes to the planning system.

We are seeing an increase in speculative planning applications on green field sites in the Green Belt, sites that are not allocated in any local plan. We urge all our Hertfordshire local authorities to robustly defend against these unwarranted and inappropriate development proposals, and use these new changes to the planning system to address the concerns of local communities.

Are you concerned about Hertfordshire’s countryside?

Please sign up below for our newsletter and learn more about our work. We are a small local charity campaigning to protect and promote the countryside for everyone’s benefit.