The North Hertfordshire Local Plan (covering the area administered by North Hertfordshire District Council) has been published. The Plan will cover the period 2011-2031 and will set targets for new homes, employment development, and retail development, and it will identify areas of land where these developments could be built. It will also consider what infrastructure is needed to support these developments. The Local Plan's policies will be used for making decisions on planning applications. The plan was recently the subject of a public consultation, which has now closed. North Hertfordshire District Council will now consider all responses, with a further consultation being likely later in 2015.
The consultation document that was used can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/NHertsLP-consultationdocument
Links to supplementary documents can be found here: http://www.north-herts.gov.uk/localplan
My response can be found below, as an attachment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The East Hertfordshire Local Plan (covering the area administered by East Hertfordshire District Council) is also being prepared. They consulted on preferred options in 2014 and further consultations will take place later this year. More details are available on the Council’s website.
I recently met with local councillors and the Planning Minister to discuss development plans in Buntingford. Find out more in the press release here.
Oliver has asked the Minister to call in the latest applications and appeal. His objection to the Bovis application is below, as an attachment.
18th February - Below is the reply from the Minister (Brandon Lewis MP) to my request for him to call in the Buntingford planning applications.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
On 5th March 2015, I asked the Government about protection of the Green Belt. Find that question and the reply here.
On 10th March 2015, I received a reply from the Housing Minister explaining that Labour's plans to scrap the New Homes Bonus - used to build vital infrastructure where new houses are built - would cost North Herts and East Herts a combined £4,000,000 a year. Find out more here and here.
On 26 March 2015, I received a reply from the Housing Minister explaining that he was planning to call in the three appeals in Buntingford. I hope this means that an overall view will be taken of how much housing Buntingford should have and that
it will take account of the democratic wishes of local people. Please find it below.
31st March 2015 - I have received correspondence from the Chiltern Society about the Green Belt and the Minister's response. It is attached below.
5th January 2016 - I called for stronger neighbourhood rights in planning matters in a debate on the Housing and Planning Bill in the House of Commons. Along with a number of other MPs, I raised concerns that planning permission can be granted in breach of the neighbourhood plan. The full press release is here, and you can see my intervention here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------