Local Plan 2040 Draft Plan - Strategy options and draft policies consultation

Object

Representation ID: 8971

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Dacorum Borough Council

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the above Local Plan consultation. We
note that the draft Local Plan is an update to existing policies contained within the
Borough’s adopted 2030 Local Plan.
We also note that a number of evidential base documents understandably remain to
be either prepared, revised or updated, including the Infrastructure Delivery Plan,
Sustainability Appraisal, HELAA and Settlement Hierarchy. Our following comments
are therefore somewhat constrained and we would appreciate being notified when
those papers are available
Given the geographical distance between our respective authorities and the fact that
we do not share a common boundary our comments will focus on potential strategic
cross-boundary matters, the greatest of which we perceive to be the potential
cumulative impact of new development on the M1.
In all cases, it is important that the cumulative and cross-boundary effects of
development are recognised across our individual administrative areas. By way of our further observations upon the draft Local Plan the following may be of interest to you.

Object

Representation ID: 8972

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Dacorum Borough Council

We welcome the focus on decarbonisation and generally the objective of promoting sustainable transport solutions.
The M1 is a major transport artery serving both our areas and is of particular importance to our sub regional major employment area at the Maylands area of Hemel Hempstead and to the Hemel Garden Communities programme.
The Transport Studies do not appear to have considered potential cumulative impacts on the M1 which we appreciate lies outwith your administrative boundary. We note that discussions are continuing with the Highways Agency, as is also the case with ourselves. We request that as part of those discussions that potential impacts on the M1 are considered and that we are informed of the outcomes of discussions in that respect. In addition the Transport Studies should make some reference to potential impacts of growth on the M1 even if only to possibly conclude that they are not significant.

Support

Representation ID: 8973

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Dacorum Borough Council

This Council acknowledges the difficulties of trying to comply with the national standard method in full given the substantial scale of unconstrained need arising from it and also the challenges in achieving alignment with the Oxford Cambridge ARC plan. We note that the draft Local Plan explains that Bedford Borough Council has taken a number of steps in order to meet its housing needs as fully as possible and the need to proceed with the 2040 Local Plan to avoid policies becoming outdated and the explanations behind these are welcomed.

Support

Representation ID: 8974

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Dacorum Borough Council

We would suggest that Bedford Borough Council heed the caveat to the Bedford Town Centre Study which informs this part of the draft Local Plan that long term projections are treated with caution and should be regularly reviewed against emerging datasets. This reflects similar caveats to the South West Herts Economic Study (2019) and Dacorum Retail Study (2020). We consider that it is important to take into account the wide-ranging implications on floorspace change of the COVID-19 pandemic and relaxation of national planning controls over commercial uses.

Support

Representation ID: 8975

Received: 01/10/2021

Respondent: Dacorum Borough Council

We note that Bedford Borough Council have recently implemented Part 2 of the Register. This Council presently maintains only Part 1 although we have recently embarked on a review of our approach to self-build and custom housebuilding which is in its early phases. We broadly support the approach set out in the policy SB1. Our emerging Local Plan proposes in Policy DM8 that on housing developments with 40 or more new houses that 5% of house plots should available as serviced plots to enable the delivery of self and custom build housing. We note the proposed scale of provision in your draft policy SB1 and consider that further elucidation of the criteria used in arriving at the proposed numbers would be helpful both by way of explanation and justification for the numbers.
We hope that you find the above responses constructive in taking forward your emerging Local Plan.