On the 12th May 2008, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government issued the East of England Plan. The Plan and Supporting Document can be viewed using the following links:

East of England Plan

Supporting Document.

For further information and related documents to the East of England Plan, please visit the East of England Regional (EERA) Assembly or Government Office East (GO-East) websites.

EERA Website

GO-East Website

St Albans City and District Council is about to begin work on its Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), which will form a key part of the evidence base for the Local Development Framework.

The SHLAA will help the Council to make important decisions over the delivery of sufficient land for housing to meet the District's future needs. In particular, it will inform the preparation of the Council's Core Strategy and Site Allocations Development Plan Documents (DPDs).

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment

For reasons explained in the Annual Monitoring Report presented to the Planning Policy Advisory Panel on the 13th December 2007, there is a need to revise the St Albans City and District Council Local Development Scheme April 2007 - 2010.

As part of this revision the timetable for producing the Local Development Framework is being revised. Therefore the Core Strategy Preferred Options consultation, timetabled for January 2008, will be re-scheduled. The revised new draft Local Development Scheme (LDS) was considered by the Planning Policy Advisory Panel on the 20th March 2008 (view report). The revised LDS will next be presented to Cabinet, then submitted to Go-East for approval.

As part of wider changes to the planning system introduced by the Planning and compulsory Purchase Act 2004, provision for was made for all Local Plans to automatically “expire” after 27th September 2007 unless “saved”, in whole or in part, by the Secretary of State.

On 14th September 2007, the Secretary of State issued a formal Direction to St Albans City & District Council under Paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 8 to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. This Direction saves specified policies within St Albans District Local Plan Review 1994, i.e., they are still formally recognised as part of the development plan for St Albans. The policies listed in the List of Saved Policies below are therefore the remaining operational policies within the St Albans District Plan Review 1994. With effect from 28th September 2007, any policies not on the list have expired and are no longer part of the development plan. The St Albans District Plan review 1994 should therefore be read with this in mind.

LIST OF SAVED POLICIES

Community and stakeholder consultation on the Core Strategy DPD Issues and Options document began on Monday 9th July 2007 and ended on the 10th September 2007..

The Core Strategy is an important document, as it is where the Council sets out its vision and objectives for how the District will develop between now and 2021. It will also address some key strategic matters, such as:

• where new housing and employment development should be focused;
• what the future roles of each of our settlements should be;
• reducing the District's environmental footprint and promoting sustainability;
• whether any development should take place within the Green Belt; and
• what sort of new infrastructure (schools, roads, public transport or health care facilities) would be required to support any future growth in the District.

The consultation document can still be viewed by clicking on the consultation link below, this will take you to the Core Strategy consultation pages, where you will be able to read the document in its entirety and view comments on any of the questions and options discussed.

CORE STRATEGY ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION DOCUMENT

ST ALBANS CITY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL UPDATED LDF CONSULTATION PAGE

A PDF version of the consultation document can still be downloaded from the link below.

DOWNLOADABLE CORE STRATEGY ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION

In preparing this latest Core Strategy Issues and Options consultation paper, the District Council has taken into account the views and observations of the Council's Sustainability Appraisal consultants. The consultants have been engaged at an early stage in the Core Strategy preparation process, in order to assess possible options against the agreed Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment framework for St Albans District and to influence the policy making process. The consultants have prepared a Sustainability Appraisal Working Paper which is available to read by clicking on the above weblink. Whilst the Working Paper is not subject to formal public consultation, if you have any specific comments to make regarding the Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment process, please email these to LDFconsultation@stalbans.gov.uk

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced major changes to the planning system. The key aims of the new system are to streamline the plan making process and promote a pro-active, positive approach to managing development. There is a very strong emphasis on community and stakeholder involvement in planning and making key decisions early in the Plan process.

The Act introduced Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) which replace the old system of Structure Plans (produced by County Councils) and Local Plans (produced by District Councils). The LDF will comprise a series of documents, which set out policies and proposals for future development within each local planning authority's area. Information on the specific documents which will form the LDF for the St Albans District can be found in our Local Development Scheme (LDS). The LDS is essentially the Council's three year work programme for the preparation of each new style planning policy document. The LDS covering the period April 2007 - March 2010 was approved by the Government Office for the East of England in May 2007.

The District Council has now begun work on the preparation of the following Development Plan Documents, which together will form the new statutory planning documents for the District:

• Core Strategy DPD
• Site Allocations DPD
• Development Control Policies DPD
• East of Hemel Hempstead Area Action Plan DPD (being prepared jointly with Dacorum Borough Council)

The Council's Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) explains the authority's approach to involving the community in the preparation and review of its planning policy documents and in all development control decisions. The Council will have to adhere to the consultation techniques in the SCI when preparing the Local Development Framework documents and determining all planning applications.

Given the age of the District Local Plan Review (adopted in 1994) and the need for up to date planning policy guidance for the St Albans District, it was originally envisaged that the three main proposed Development Plan Documents (Core Strategy, Site Allocations and Development Control Policies) would be prepared to a parallel timetable, with a joint issues and options consultation stage planned for the spring of 2006. This also coincided with the planned consultation period for the Sustainable Community Strategy (produced by the St Albans Local Strategic Partnership). As there are very close links between this strategy and the Local Development Framework, it was considered appropriate to produce a single consultation document, which also covered issues for the Sustainable Community Strategy. This joint Issues and Options Consultation document was published for stakeholder and community consultation in May 2006.

May 2006 Joint Issues and Options Consultation Document Full Version

May 2006 Joint Issues and Options Consultation Document Summary Version

The consultation period for the joint issues and options document ended on 14th July 2006. Schedules of responses on the full and summary consultation documents can be viewed below:

Schedule of Responses - FULL VERSION PDF

Schedule of Responses - SUMMARY VERSION

Government guidance in PPS12 describes the Issues and Options stage of DPD preparation as a period of ongoing consultation with stakeholders and the local community. Taking on board comments received from the Government Office for the East of England regarding the need to better define the scope and content of each DPD, the Council has now decided to carry out a second round of consultation on issues and options specifically relating to the Core Strategy DPD (further consultation on the Site Allocations and Development Control Policies DPDs is planned for Spring 2008).

The following documents form part of the Council's growing evidence base for the Local Development Framework for St Albans City and District. These publications can be viewed by clicking the weblinks below. Copies can also be viewed at the Council Offices in St Peter's Street, St Albans during normal office hours. Some of the larger publications are also available in local libraries or at Harpenden Town Council's offices. Alternatively, printed copies of the documents can be obtained from the Council (there is a charge for some of these publications - please refer to our Planning Publications list).

• Annual Monitoring Report for St Albans City and District 2007
• Housing Monitoring Report 2007
• Retail Monitoring Report 2007
• District Local Plan Review (Adopted November 1994)
• Central Hertfordshire Employment Land Review
• Retail and Leisure Study
• Housing Needs Survey
• Housing Capacity Study
• Housing Capacity Study - Appendix 3
• Sport and Recreation Facilities Strategy
• Playing Pitch Strategy
• Interim Hotels Study
• Local Development Scheme - April 2007-2010
• Statement of Community Involvement - April 2006
• Supplementary Planning Guidance on Residential Extensions and Replacement Dwellings in the Green Belt (May 2004)
• Supplementary Planning Guidance on Affordable Housing (March 2004)
• Revised Parking Policies and Standards (January 2002)

In late 2006, Dacorum and St Albans Councils prepared a consultation paper seeking views on the possible growth of Hemel Hempstead. The Issues and Options consultation paper explains the implications and the options we should consider if we are required to plan for the growth of Hemel Hempstead, as recommended in the Proposed Changes to the East of England Plan.

The consultation period has now ended. However, if you have any queries regarding the consultation response or next steps, please contact Dacorum Council on (01442) 228584.

The Proposed Changes to the East of England Plan recommend major expansion of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield into the Green Belt, with an increased housing target for Welwyn Hatfield Borough of 10,000 homes. Although there has been no mention of including land in St Albans District, both St Albans District Council and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council are opposed to any expansion into Green Belt. On 11th December 2006 a presentation was held outlining the possible expansion. This can be viewed by clicking the following Link.

Possible Welwyn Hatfield Expansion Presentation 11th Dec 2006

Members of the Planning Policy Team at St Albans City & District Council are:

• John Chapman - Planning Policy Manager
• Philip Bylo - Principal Planning Officer(Policy)
• Wendy Frost - Principal Planning Officer (Policy)
• Manpreet Kanda - Planning Officer (Policy)
• Karen Bullock - Technical Support & Monitoring Officer

For general queries relating to planning policy or the Local Development Framework, please call 01727 866100 (Extension 2736 and 2716).

You can also contact us via email – planningpolicy@stalbans.gov.uk

The Planning Policy Advisory Panel replaced the District Plan Second Review Members Steering Group in July 2004 with the introduction of the Local Development Framework. The Agendas and Minutes of all these meetings are available to view by selecting the links below:

• Planning Policy Advisory Panel Agendas
• District Plan Second Review Agendas
• Committee Minutes