Liberal Democrats reach major milestone in protecting St Albans green belt

The Liberal Democrat administration at St Albans District Council has reached a major milestone in protecting the district’s countryside from speculative development, as the council’s Local Plan reaches the final stage of the national planning inspection process.

For the first time in over thirty years, St Albans District Council is on the brink of adopting a Local Plan — a feat never achieved under previous Conservative administrations, whose two Local Plans both failed.

St Albans district currently has one of the oldest Local Plans in the country, a long-standing vulnerability that has left most of our precious green spaces exposed to pressure from major developers.

The council’s draft Local Plan has now reached the final “main modifications” consultation stage, the final hurdle before adoption.

It reveals that the Government appointed inspectors have agreed with all of the central elements of the Lib Dem plan proposals. They have only requested small refinements such as the impact of updated data on school place requirements and additional detail on some transport infrastructure schemes. They have not requested any substantial changes to the allocation or density of housing sites.

With the draft Local Plan now having passed the majority of scrutiny, it has gained what planning policy describes as “significant weight”. Up until now it was only “limited weight”. This means planning officers and councillors are now far better equipped to resist inappropriate applications, including on land that is not allocated in the Plan.

Paul DeKort, Leader of St Albans District Council, said:

“For the first time in very many years, St Albans District Council now has a modern Local Plan document that we can use to fend off big developers who want to build on our green belt.

“Until now, we could only give limited weight to the draft Plan. Having reached this final hurdle, it now carries significant weight in planning decisions. This is a huge moment for the district in its desire to wrest back control from speculative development.

“Rather than the 64,000 new homes developers wanted to build, this Plan proposes just 15,000 in areas with the least valuable green belt land, saving our area from what would otherwise be development and green belt destruction at four times this level.

“The Liberal Democrat administration has consistently described delivering a robust Local Plan as a top priority, recognising its essential role in protecting our vital green spaces, guiding sustainable development, and giving residents greater confidence and certainty that the right infrastructure needed to support this growth will be delivered.

“This major achievement shows that we were right to resist all those who wanted us to slow down the Local Plan process - including Conservative, Labour and Green Party councillors.

“The Plan will now proceed through the final consultation process before formal adoption, expected by the middle of the year.”

Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans, said:

“In the face of top-down housing targets imposed by this Labour government, just like the Conservatives before them, it’s a major achievement that our Lib Dem district council has reached this milestone.

“Every local authority has to work within the planning system we have, not the one we might want - and that is what St Albans district has had to do. 

“In the face of the government’s flawed planning reforms and hiked up housing targets, this draft Plan is a shield against a developer free-for-all. 

“Months ago, I asked the government to give St Albans district Local Plan the extra “weight” it needed to do this. It’s disappointing that the government refused to accelerate the process, despite St Albans District Council pulling out all the stops on its side. Thankfully however, the council has now reached this major milestone and are just one step away from the Local Plan being adopted.”

Victoria Collins, MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, said:

“We Lib Dems - both locally and in Parliament - have been fighting for a planning system that delivers for local communities: that meets our needs, delivers vital infrastructure alongside new developments, and preserves our green spaces.

“Whilst the top-down Westminster-led planning system has continued to hinder these efforts, this Local Plan is focused on delivering for local people and protecting our area from speculative development.

“Where previous Conservative administrations failed, it’s through a lot of hard work that our Lib Dem district council has got this draft Plan to its final stages and thereby secured added protections for our green spaces. As government policies like the grey belt continue to undermine those efforts, I’ll continue to campaign in Parliament for more local powers.”