Local Plan update & Reorganisation survey. Deadline 30 September.
Message from Jon Bishop.
Stage 2 Review is here: https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/new-local-plan#Evidence%20base towards the bottom of the page. They are long documents, so summary lists and maps are extracted below but the documents themselves contain more detail on each area.
- All areas that were categorised as either Very High or High impact in the Green Belt in the Stage 2 Review will not be categorised as grey belt,
- Areas categorised as Moderate-High impact in the Green Belt in the Stage 2 Review will only be categorised as grey belt if they are already developed to some degree,
- Areas categorised as Moderate impact in the Green Belt in the Stage 2 Review will mainly be categorised as grey belt, and
- All areas that were categorised as either Low-Moderate or Low impact on the Green Belt in the Stage 2 Review will be categorised as grey belt.
You have probably seen the recent publicity from Stephen Giles-Medhurst about the fact that there are not enough “acceptable” sites to meet the Government targets. From what I can gather, I think we will be very short of the target which is good in terms of Green Belt defence but it does worry me that, if the figure is too low, we could end up with the Plan being found unsound by the Examiner. In the worst case, the Government could then step in and taking over all planning, including defining the Local Plan. This is the Armageddon scenario as residents will get little or no say in which sites are accepted for development. Let’s hope that a happy compromise can be found by the Council to both protect Green Belt and deliver enough housing to keep the Government happy. Together, we will need to work to make sure that residents views are properly heard in this.
Local Government Reorganisation Survey: https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/
(deadline 30th September)
The traffic lights on the options in the briefing note are based on a combination of information from TRDC and some analysis of available information. The Strategic Alignment category is the alignment to other high level strategic management in Hertfordshire – health, police and strategic planning.
It would be helpful if you could give me your views on:
- Which of the three options for unitary councils do you feel is best?
- What are the key risks / opportunities that you see from the creation of unitary councils in Hertfordshire?
- Are there any responsibilities, services or assets that you feel should be delegated to Town or Parish Councils as part of this?
- Do you think we should submit a TRJRA response to the survey?
This is the biggest change to council organisation in over 50 years and could have a material impact on the quality & cost of running councils for the foreseeable future.
Timelines are very tight, with the survey closing on 30th September.
Extracted summary documents:
https://rickmansworthresidents.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LGR-Consultation-Briefing-TRJRA.pdf
