Agenda item

The Assistant Director (Place Shaping) presented a report that covered the statutory duty of East Hertfordshire District Council to prepare and maintain an up-to-date Local Plan to guide future development in the district.

The Local Plan was central to setting the spatial strategy for East Herts, identifying land for development and protection, and establishing planning policies to support sustainable growth, infrastructure delivery, environmental protection, and community well-being.

Members were advised that the Government had published details of a new plan?making system in November 2025 intended to deliver local plans quickly, consistently and transparently. The associated regulations for implementing this system came into force on 25 March 2026.

Members were advised that a key feature of the reforms was the introduction of a statutory 30-month timetable for preparing and adopting local plans supported by a series of defined gateway assessments to ensure that plans were properly prepared and sound.

The Assistant Director (Place Shaping) advised that the report represented the first formal step in implementing the new plan making framework for East Herts. The report initiated the required getting ready phase that must be completed before the 30-month period could commence. A local plan timetable must be published along with a notice of intention to commence local plan preparation.

The report sought the approval to publish the East Herts local plan timetable which set out the proposed stages, milestones and key decision points for preparing the new local plan. The timetable also provided transparency for Members, communities and stakeholders and established a clear programme for managing resources, evidence and consultation, which was a prerequisite for progression through Gateway One.

Members were advised that the report sought approval to publish the statutory notice of intention to commence local plan preparation. The notice formally signalled the start of the local plan process, identified the plan area and confirmed the anticipated timing of Gateway One, and explained how stakeholders could access information and engage.

The Panel was advised that national guidance required the notice to be published before, or at the same time as the first formal stage of public engagement. They heard that the report should therefore be read in conjunction with the Local Plan scoping consultation report. Both reports providing clarity on the statutory requirements and the immediate next steps in the plan making process.

Members were advised that local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire remained subject to Government decision. Councils were, however, expected to continue progressing Local Plans. It was highlighted that preparing the East Herts Local Plan would ensure an up-to-date and robust planning framework remained in place and would provide a strong evidence base to support future governance for plan making arrangements.

The report was presented for scrutiny and comment prior to consideration by the Executive and subsequently Council in accordance with the council’s constitution. The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for Place Shaping and officers for their work in reaching this stage and noted that this marked an important first step in reviewing the Local Plan.

The Panel asked for clarity in terms of the LGR process and how the local plan preparations would feed into the new authority. The Assistant Director (Place Shaping) said that the government was looking at transitional arrangements, and the expectation was that the new Local Plan would be taken forward by the new authority and progressed in that respect. She said that the council and neighbouring councils were taking a consistent approach to plan making.

The Panel sought some clarity as to what would happen if the council reached a point 30 months out and the plan-making process was not completed. The Assistant Director (Place Shaping) said that the council was required to keep the timetable under constant review as the process progressed.

The Panel asked if officers could highlight the indicative start and end points in the process when there were periods of public consultation. The Panel were reassured that regular newsletters would be prepared to set out the three consultations that were prescribed in the regulations. The Assistant Director (Place Shaping) set out the timescales for the three consultations.

Members asked questions of officers in respect of the new regulation numbers and the plan timetable in terms of clarity for the public. The Chair of the panel said that a more graphical and easier to understand document was being prepared for the council’s website.

Councillor Crystall proposed, and Councillor Dumont seconded a motion that Council, via the Executive, be advised that (A) the East Herts Local Plan Timetable, attached at Appendix A, be approved for publication and (B) the Notice of Intention to Commence the East Herts Local Plan, attached at Appendix B, be published on the Council’s website.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that Council, via the Executive, be advised that (A) the East Herts Local Plan Timetable, attached at Appendix A, be approved for publication; and

(B)   the Notice of Intention to Commence the East Herts Local Plan, attached at Appendix B, be published on the Council’s website.