The Spatial Planning & Design Team is responsible for all aspects of planning policy in St Albans District. It aims to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest, promote quality of life, meet local needs and reconcile the demand for development and the protection of the environment.
Current adopted Local Plan
The local planning policies for St Albans District are the saved policies set out in the District Local Plan Review 1994, which is the current adopted Local Plan.
Local Development Framework (LDF)
The Local Development Framework (LDF) is the name of the new planning system introduced by the Government in 2004. The St Albans LDF is a series of planning documents that will eventually replace the 1994 Local Plan.
LDF Evidence Base
The LDF Evidence Base contains a large number of Technical Reports, Studies and Reviews that have been undertaken by, commissioned by or involved the District Council to inform the plan-making process.
Latest news - January 2012
SADC Planning Policy page updates - RSS feed
St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy
The St Albans Public Realm Delivery Strategy (December 2011) has now been published and can be viewed here.
The Strategy examines the quality of public realm in St Albans and proposes a number of measures aimed at ensuring streets and spaces better realise their potential.
National Planning Policy Framework
We have responded to the government’s consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). You can view a copy of our consultation response here.
Other Spatial Planning & Design Team responsibilities
The Spatial Planning & Design Team is also responsible for producing the Annual Monitoring Report, Housing Monitoring Report, Shopping Monitoring Report and other aspects of the LDF Evidence Base; technical studies and preparing site-specific planning briefs. We provide internal advice and evidence to support development management decisions and advise the Council about the implications of national, regional, sub-regional, County and local planning issues.
The team is also responsible for Conservation and Listed Buildings, which are of great importance in the District.
The team is passionate about good design and aims to ensure that all new development is of high quality, having considered all appropriate elements of urban design.
Local Development Scheme (LDS)
The LDS is essentially a timetable of draft key dates for the LDF Development Plan Documents (DPDs) comprises the Council's three-year work programme for the preparation of each DPD. The current LDS is now out of date and a new LDS to replace it will be prepared shortly.
To be notified of LDF consultation events as and when they take place, please register your details on the St Albans consultation database on the following page: http://stalbans-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal
Agendas and minutes
Much of the work of the Planning Policy Team is endorsed by elected Members through the Planning Policy Advisory Panel (PPAP), which is a non-statutory committee that makes recommendations to the Council's Cabinet on planning policy issues. Some reports also go to Cabinet. These are both meetings that the public may attend. The Agendas and Minutes are available to view at Planning Policy Advisory Panel and Cabinet. Some major documents, such as the Pre-Submission and Adoption stages of DPDs have to be approved by the Full Council.
Contact details
Planning policy is now part of the new Spatial Planning & Design Team. For queries relating to planning policy, please call 01727 866100 and ask for Spatial Planning & Design or email planningpolicy@stalbans.gov.uk
Key Spatial Planning & Design Team contacts are:
Christopher Briggs – Spatial Planning Manager
Wendy Frost – Principal Spatial Planning Officer
Helen Tether – Design & Conservation Officer
Laura Levitt – Planning Officer (Design & Conservation)
Manpreet Kanda – Spatial Planning Officer
Richard Hardy – Spatial Planning Officer
Karen Bullock – Monitoring Officer
Graeme Marsden - Spatial Planning Officer
Date of last review: 10 January 2012