The council voted to adopt the plan on 23 October, after housing secretary James Brokenshire had announced earlier in October that he was lifting the holding direction. The plan provides land for 18,458 new homes up to 2033, including the removal of six per cent of the authority’s green belt "in order to help meet a significant proportion of the housing need, both within this plan period and beyond," the plan says.
The holding direction had been placed on the plan in September in response to a request by local MP Stephen McPartland. The Tory MP had, alongside other local campaigners, requested that Brokenshire halt the strategy due to concerns over the document’s proposal to release green belt land adjacent to Stevenage for housing. The adopted plan provides for an urban extension of 600 homes on the site up to 2033.
Meanwhile, more green belt release is proposed in Oxford, with the publication of the latest consultation on the city’s local plan this week. Oxford City Council’s publication draft plan, which is open for consultation until 13 December, proposes to release a series of sites, totalling 18 hectares, from the green belt for the provision of housing.
LOCAL PLAN UPDATES
ADOPTION NEWS
Lancashire: Fylde Council adopted its local plan on 22 October. The plan sets a minimum housing requirement of 415 new homes per annum during the plan period of 2011-32.
Hertfordshire: East Hertfordshire District Council adopted its local plan on 23 October. The plan provides for a minimum of 18,458 new homes up to 2033, and 19-20 hectares of new employment land.
Cambridgeshire: Cambridge City Council adopted its local plan on 18 October. The plan allocates land for 14,000 new homes in the period to 2031, and was adopted following a joint examination with South Cambridgeshire District Council’s local plan.
Cumbria: Eden District Council adopted its local plan on 11 October. The plan sets a housing target of 242 homes per annum between 2014 and 2032, a total of 4,356, with half of these proposed for the district’s main town of Penrith.
CONSULTATION NEWS
Oxfordshire: Oxford City Council has published its proposed submission draft local plan. The plan, which will be out for consultation between 1 November and 13 December, proposes the provision of land for 8,620 new homes over the period 2016-36, equating to 431 new homes per annum.
London: Lambeth Council has published a revised draft local plan for consultation. The document, which is out to consultation until 17 December, sets a housing target of 15,890 homes to be provided up to 2029, with an annual target of 1,589 new homes.
