New Local Plan Archive 2023

Update October 2023

At the Full Council meeting on the 17th October, Three Rivers District Council agreed to consult residents on a revised (much reduced) list of sites for inclusion in the new Local Plan that the Council is developing. The consultation will commence on 27th October and run until 6th December 2023.

Following pressure from Residents’ Associations across the district, all homes in the district will receive a leaflet from the Council explaining what is happening and how residents can comment on the plans. This should be received either before the start of the consultation or in the first week of it, depending on logistics.

Once the full papers for consultation are available, we will undertake a full analysis of the proposals and provide a full briefing to residents on the consultation and the proposals through a Newsletter Special.

Update 24th August 2023

For several years now we have been working with other Residents’ Associations across the district to convince Three River District Council to revise its proposed new Local Plan to reduce the damage to the Green Belt and to better balance the need for new homes with protecting the environment. We are delighted to be able to tell you that, after extensive lobbying, earlier this week the Council committee developing the plan has now agreed to put forward a revised plan reducing the number of dwellings to be delivered from approximately 12,000 to 5,000. 

As a result of this, many of the Green Belt sites previously proposed for development have been removed from the plan. In Chorleywood, this means that no Green Belt sites that have not previously been developed are included in the new draft plan. 

Draft Local Plan – List of Sites in Chorleywood

Land at Chorleywood Station

As a brownfield site it is extremely unlikely that it will be possible to get the site removed from the list of sites for development in the new Local Plan. However, we have already presented our concerns over the station development, including problems with access, the need to maintain the current parking provision and the need to protect views in and out of the conservation areas that surround the site. On the back of our lobbying, the Council has made it clear in the conditions for the site to be developed that it will be necessary for the developers to retain at least the current level of commuter parking on the site.

In addition to this, there are policies in the Chorleywood Neighbourhood Plan which should limit the height of any development on the site and we have ensured that changes have been made to the draft policies for the new Local Plan which will also help limit the potential negative impact of any development.

Development Bordering Chorleywood

Just outside Chorleywood Parish’s border, 550 dwellings are proposed on land to the south of Shepherds Lane and east of the M25 close to the William Penn Leisure Centre. This is a reduction from the previously proposed 750 dwellings so as to allow space for a new developer-funded primary school.

Next Steps

It is expected that this revised plan will now be issued for full public consultation this autumn. No final decision will be made by the Council about whether to include any site in the final Local Plan until after the consultation has taken place. Once we know more about the consultation we will, of course, provide full briefings to residents through our emailed newsletter.

Update January 2023

Along with other Residents’ Associations in the district, we have been working hard to convince TRDC to reduce the number of new homes planned for in the new Local Plan so as to protect Green Belt whilst still providing the true number of homes needed to meet local needs. Alongside this, in co-operation with organisations such as the London Green Belt Council and CPRE, we have been working to get the Government to adjust their stance on mandatory central housing targets and to ensure that Planning Inspectors truly apply the protections of Green Belt specified in National Planning Policy. Through this, the aim is to both provide the local homes we need whilst protecting more of our precious Green Belt.
 
In the latter part of last year we began to make real progress, with TRDC agreeing to prepare a plan using an alternative method to calculate the required housing numbers, and with the Minister for Housing clearly beginning to accept that the current approach to setting targets for new housing doesn’t work at a local level.
 
After what appeared to be some initial backsliding by TRDC, we are pleased to say that in December the Council unanimously agreed to revise its plans so that it will calculate its new housing target based on local need rather than use centrally set housing targets, which take no account of local drivers and constraints. The Council is now working on this revised plan and intends to undertake a full consultation on a revised new Local Plan in September / October. In the meantime, there will be a consultation starting at the end of this month on six additional sites identified for potential development so that these can be included in the list of sites from which development sites can be selected later this year. None of the new sites are in Chorleywood but, once the consultation formally commences, we will update residents through our regular Planning Updates.