Government’s hiked up housing targets force launch of second new Local Plan - before current draft one is adopted

Just as the Lib Dem administration at St Albans District Council is set to have its 2026 (Draft) Local Plan approved, it is now required to start work on the next one, to accommodate the government’s hiked up housing targets. 

The District Council has now launched a new Local Plan (a “2029 Local Plan”) - which was triggered by a vote on 9 June - all due to the government’s top-down planning changes forcing them to create an additional Local Plan with housing numbers that must match the new much higher target.

The Lib Dem administration anticipates that the St Albans District Council 2026 (Draft) Local Plan will be adopted shortly, as it is so far advanced that it is already protecting vital green belt areas from further speculative development. But the government’s demand for 12,000 more homes is forcing them to start developing another Local Plan to accompany it. This has to be delivered to the government by 2029.

The Lib Dems have slammed this requirement, which flies in the face of their efforts to deliver protections for green belt land and deliver the social homes we need. 

Furthermore, the government is also implementing a flawed ‘grey belt’ definition which further weakens green belt protection, especially in areas that lie between villages and towns.

Despite these challenges, the Lib Dem administration is determined to develop a new “2029 Local Plan” that delivers the best possible outcome for the district and, wherever possible, continues protecting vital green spaces and delivering the developments our community needs - just as they did with the current Plan on the brink of adoption.

Paul de Kort, Lib Dem Leader of St Albans District Council, said:

“The government’s flawed planning reforms have forced us into this illogical situation of beginning a new Local Plan process before the current one is even complete. And, unfortunately, it’ll have to conform with their hugely inflated housing targets and disregard for green belt preservation.

“However, our hard work on the current plan has still paid off. Although it requires us to offer sites for 15,000 homes, a figure driven by the previous Conservative Government who, as a reminder, also insisted on top down targets churned out by a Whitehall computer. One that takes no account of local infrastructure capacity pressures. It will provide quickly the protection from much speculative development which never offers the infrastructure, environment and affordable housing stock that is needed.”

Daisy Cooper, Lib Dem MP for St Albans, said:

“Requiring the council to begin a new Local Plan process, just as the current one ends, is absurd. It’s indicative of the major flaws in this Labour government’s planning system reforms.

“Our Lib Dem council has already shown their determination to deliver a Local Plan that delivers protections and infrastructure  for our community. In Parliament, I’ll keep challenging the government to rethink their approach and develop a planning system that is driven by the needs of local communities, not by top-down housing figures dreamt up in Whitehall.”

Victoria Collins, Lib Dem MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, said: 

“I have raised our broken planning system and flawed revised targets directly with the Prime Minister. Week-in-week-out I continue to campaign against the top-down government’s planning reforms, advocating for a community-led system rather than targets imposed by Westminster.

“The result of these reforms is greater pressure on already over-stretched and under-funded local councils like ours, who have worked hard to deliver a monumental achievement of a Local Plan that delivers for our area. 

“We need a planning system that delivers the right homes, in the right place with the right infrastructure, while protecting our precious landscapes. I'll keep fighting to empower our councils and communities to deliver what's needed locally.”