DC Hemingway writes

NHDC Draft Local Plan

Update on Process: Last month I highlighted the extraordinary meeting of the Council to endorse the proposed emerging (or draft) Local Plan. It was the only topic on the agenda and the meeting heard public participation from a number of groups, almost exclusively speaking against the proposals. The council heard a presentation from the Executive Member for Planning, and then a prolonged debate involving most of the council. The resolution to endorse the draft plan was supported by 32 votes, with 12 voting against or abstaining (which included me).

Implications of Local Plan for Knebworth: There are several sites proposed for Knebworth, one in the centre of the village and the rest for removal from the Green Belt, with dwelling estimates (area based rule of thumb, not developer proposal) totalling

A map of the sites is available, and you can find out more by searching for "draft emerging allocations Knebworth", with information on the Parish Council and NHDC websites. The full detail of the Emerging Local Plan may be obtained from: www.north-herts.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/emerging-local-plan

Next Steps and Timings: The next step is for a final decision by the NHDC Cabinet to submit the plan for public consultation which, in this context, is collecting responses for review by the Planning Inspector, on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The decision by Cabinet will be taken at a meeting in September, so that the statutory period of 6 weeks for the consultation will begin sometime around mid October, so there is time to examine the proposals so that you are ready to submit any comments once the consultation begins.

Note that, if you submitted comments in response to previous consultations on the plan, such as the Preferred Options consultation in December 2014, and believe that the updated plan does not fully address your concerns, you should submit your comments again in October. This time the comments will be examined by the Planning Inspector, on behalf of the Secretary of State, and not by the planning officers in NHDC, as part of his review of the whole plan. It is expected that formal submission to the Planning Inspector will happen in the first part of 2017 and approval of the plan will be some time after that, possibly not until 2018.

• Local Plan News (PDF, 229 Kb)