Secretary of State recognises St Albans progress on Local Plan
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, has today written to St Albans City and District Council, urging it to meet its published timetable for developing the Local Plan.
Mr Javid wrote to the Council in November 2017, alongside 14 other local authorities that had out-of-date Local Plans*.
St Albans City and District Council replied to the Secretary of State’s concerns in January setting out the work we are currently engaged in. The Council is preparing a Local Plan for the period 2020-36 and at this stage is seeking to allow for 14,608 new homes, a target proposed by the Government.
Mr Javid has powers to send in his own team from Whitehall or ask other bodies to produce a Local Plan if he is not satisfied with the Council’s progress.
In response to the Secretary of State’s letter today, Councillor Alec Campbell, the Leader of St Albans City and District Council said:
The Council is firmly committed to producing our Local Plan to schedule. We are pleased that the Secretary of State has recognised that the Council is making progress. We believe that we are best placed to take the important decisions required to deliver our new Local Plan and get the best possible outcome for our community.
Cllr Mary Maynard, the Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning said:
I am delighted by the news that the government is not intervening in our Local Plan process. It means that we will be able to decide on future development in the District locally.
It is a credit to the hard work and commitment of officers at the Council and the cooperative working between members of all parties. All our neighbouring councils, every council in Hertfordshire, and the County Council, all sent messages of support to government on our behalf. So did our local MPs, Anne Main and Bim Afolami. I would like to thank them all. I hope to take the Plan forward working collaboratively and cooperatively, and deliver development that really meets the needs of local people.
For the full text of the Secretary of State’s 23 March 2018 letter see: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693943/Annex_A5_-_St_Albans.pdf
Councillor Contacts:
Cllr Alec Campbell, Leader of St Albans City and District Council. Tel: 07793 550200; email: cllr.a.campbell@stalbans.gov.uk
Cllr Mary Maynard, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Building Control, St Albans City and District Council. Tel: 01582 620801. Email: cllr.m.maynard@stalbans.gov.uk
Media Contact:
Claire Wainwright, Executive and Communications Manager, St Albans City and District Council, Tel: 01727 819572, Email: claire.wainwright@stalbans.gov.uk
Notes:
*A Local Plan provides a formal framework for where development may take place over a given period. It identifies land that could be used for future housing and commercial use, and infrastructure development.
The term “out of date” refers to plans that are either not based on up-to-date housing requirements and/or are not able to demonstrate a 5-year housing supply.