The Spatial Planning & Design Team is responsible for all aspects of planning policy in St Albans City and 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.
Pre-Submission Strategic Local Plan
A decision on whether to proceed to publishing the Strategic Local Plan for comment was to be sought at a meeting of Council on 28 November 2012. At the meeting Council passed the following motion:
“That this Council agrees to the following recommendations put forward by No Oaklands Housing Action Group:
1. An independent review of Green Belt boundaries and a Green Belt Study of all potential housing locations needs to be undertaken now.
2. There needs to be clarity on how sites will be delivered and this is implied by an allocation of strategic sites.
3. Detailed delivery matters such as availability and infrastructure requirements need resolving.
4. Oaklands should retain its Green Belt green field status in any future policy review or boundary change to prevent urban sprawl and coalescence with Hatfield.
5. An alternative site should be considered.
6. Green Belt release should only be considered when the district has run out of sites within its urban land.
7. An independent commission of housing need in St Albans and its District should be set up to inform the evidence base.”
The tender periods for both the Independent Green Belt Study and the Independent Housing Needs Study close on 12 April 2013. Consultants for both studies will be appointed by the end of April.
Ongoing indicative timetable:
- Consultants to be appointed by end April
- Full draft reports received July
- Final reports received August
Interim Housing Target/Requirement
On 17 January 2013 there was a resolution that Cabinet:
- Agrees the use of the East of England Plan housing target of 360 dwellings per annum from 2001 to 2021 as the most appropriate interim housing target/requirement to use for housing land supply purposes.
The Inspector's decision on a major Public Inquiry was received on 12 March 2013. The inspector dismissed the appeal and an award of costs was made in favour of the Council. The decisions can be downloaded below. The Council’s successful case has resulted in positive national coverage on the front page of Planning Magazine and in the associated article.
New Strategic Local Plan (SLP) and Detailed Local Plan (DLP)
A number of consultations and meetings to discuss the development of the SLP have helped shape the Draft Strategic Local Plan. Details of these consultations are available here.
Civic Centre Opportunity Site Development Brief Supplementary Planning Document
St Albans City and District Council adopted a Development Brief for the Civic Centre Area of the City on 11 July 2012. For more details can be found
here.
Local Plan Evidence Base
The 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.
Other Spatial Planning & Design Team responsibilities
The Spatial Planning & Design Team provides 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. It is also responsible for producing the Authorities Monitoring Report, Housing Monitoring Report, Shopping Monitoring Report and other aspects of the Local Plan Evidence Base; technical studies and preparing site-specific planning briefs.
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 Strategic Local Plan (SLP) and the Detailed Local Plan (DLP) and comprises the Council's three-year work programme. The current LDS is now out of date and a new LDS to replace it will be prepared shortly.
To be notified of SLP and DLP 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 Spatial Planning Team is endorsed by elected Members through committees. The Agendas and Minutes are available to view at Planning Policy Advisory Panel and Cabinet. Some major documents 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
John Hoad - Spatial Planning & Design Team Leader
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
Date of last review: 10 June 2013