1.1 The Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation is presented in two parts. Please refer to the introduction in Part 1 of the consultation for an overall explanation of the Local Plan, its purpose and requirements and how the Council has arrived at this Regulation 18 consultation.
1.2 This document forms Part 2 of the Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation and sets out the potential sites where development will take place, how much development will take place, and when.
1.3 The sites in this document are the sites identified as having potential for allocation for the following land uses: housing, gypsy and traveller and travelling showpeople accommodation, employment (including Leavesden Studios), town centre and retail development, open space and education. Also included in this Part 2 document and to be consulted upon are the proposed sites for allocation at Langleybury and The Grove and Maple Lodge Wastewater Treatment Works, both of which are existing allocations in the current Site Allocations LDD (adopted 2014). The proposed revision of the Green Belt boundary in relation to Bedmond is also being consulted on.
1.4 Individual site assessments for the potential site allocations for housing, employment (including Warner Bros. Studios) and education sites have been undertaken as part of the Strategic Housing & Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA)1, which can be viewed at: https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/egcl-page/new-local-plan-evidence-base. These sites have been identified through various sources including several Call for Sites exercises2, a review of refused and withdrawn application sites, the Urban Capacity Study (2020), the Edge of Settlement and New Settlement Scoping Report (2020) as well as from the Brownfield Land Register (2019) and from sites which were previously considered in the preparation of the Site Allocations LDD (2014).
1.5 The introduction to Part 1 of this consultation document sets out the considerations and evidence base studies taken into account in arriving at the Sites for Potential Allocation that are included in this document.
1.6 The sites identified as potential site allocations for housing have been arrived at following extensive technical work and evidence gathering. Subsequently, and in line with national planning policy, these sites are considered to be the most appropriate in having the potential for housing development3.
1.7 It should be noted from the outset that if any of the potential housing sites for allocation are later found to no longer be suitable for allocation following this consultation, then replacement housing sites will have to be identified in order to contribute towards meeting the housing needs as much as possible. The same applies to potential employment sites. This is due to the national planning policy requirement for Local Plans to set out the land to be provided in order to accommodate the need for new homes and jobs over the plan period.
1.8 As stated in the overall introduction to the Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation (in Part 1 of this consultation), this is not the final stage of the Plan as we are still awaiting some key pieces of evidence. Your views submitted as part of this consultation will help inform the next stage and ultimately the document to be submitted to the Secretary of State. Following submission to the Secretary of State, there will then be an examination by an independent Inspector before the Council can adopt the document 4.
1.9 An indicative housing delivery trajectory based on information available at the time of publication of this Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation is shown in Appendix 1. It is requested that the landowners/promoters of sites included in this document respond detailing realistic anticipated trajectories for housing and employment sites, which will help to inform future stages of the Local Plan.
1.10 An online map has been produced showing all of the existing and potential sites for allocation included within this public consultation document. The online map is viewable at the following webpage: http://www.planvu.co.uk/trdc/localplanconsultation2021. Alternatively, a PDF version of the map can be found at Appendix 6.
1 Assessments of all sites which have not been included in this document are also included in Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) (2020).
2 Call for Sites exercises were undertaken in July-September 2017, August 2018 and October-December 2018.
3 Appendix 2 provides a summary of the sites that were included in the SHELAA which are not being taken forward.
4 Details of the timetable are set out in the Local Development Scheme at: https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/egcl-page/local-development-scheme.