Hertfordshire & North Middlesex Area of the Ramblers' Association
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Local development frameworks
October 2010
The Local Development Framework process replaces Councils Local Plans. It is intended to improve on the Local Plans by consulting widely to enable local people to give their views and have their say as to the shape of development in the area live in over the coming years.
All ten Hertfordshire Councils are involved in this process. The process covers all aspects of Local Governments. Our interest is where houses allocated to each Council under the East of England Plan will be affecting the beauty and tranquillity of the countryside and the footpaths/Rights of Way network and to contribute to ensuring the best outcome for the local community and walkers.
The Process
The Guide about LDFs from the Planning Portal provides information about the process:
- General pages about the LDF process from the Planning Portal provide information about the procedures and processes and some of the key documents required are shown.
- Statement of Community Involvement: Councils must produce a statement setting out how and when the community will be consulted about the proposals.
These are the main documents involved in the process.
CORE STRATEGY sets out the spatial aspects and long term spatial vision. This is the main document from which all documents below stem from.
- The Council start by considering the issues and options informally with the public.
- From this they produce a draft Core Strategy with the Preferred Options set out for public consultation and the public are invited to comment.
- Following consultation the final Core Strategy document is published and there is opportunity for the public to comment on this during the period of consultation, normally about six weeks. Anyone wishing to comment should do so at this stage and before the final document is submitted to the secretary of State for consideration. If they do not comment at this stage, they will not be invited to comment to the Secretary of State if they apply to at the time he is considering the final document.
- The Secretary of State considers the final Core Strategy document and seeks the views from any members of the public who commented on the Core Strategy document but who are still not satisfied their concerns have been met.
STRATEGIC SITE ALLOCATION. This may arise from the Core Options consultation or from existing local plan documents.
AREA ACTION PLANS is a development plan document focussed upon a specific location subject to conservation or significant change. They are subject to independent examination.
SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING DOCUMENTS expand or add detail to policies laid out in development plan documents, or a saved policy in an existing development plan. These may take the form of design guides, area development briefs, a master plan or issue based documents.
GUIDANCE for members of the public wishing to participate in the Examination of Development Plan Documents (DPD's) and Statements of Community Involvement is also available at the Planning Portal noted above.
REGIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGY AND HOUSING PROPOSED FOR EACH OF HERTFORDSHIRE'S TEN COUNCILS
Also known as the East of England Plan, the RSS required Councils to facilitate the building of an enormous number of houses in their administrative areas. The numbers of houses approved for each Council were as follows:-
Broxbourne 3,650 houses, Dacorum 10,140, East Herts 9,860, Harlow 15,010 split between East Herts and Essex, Hertsmere 3,920, North Herts 4,300, St Albans 5,370, Stevenage 14,430, Watford 3790, Welwyn Hatfield 7270 and Three Rivers 2,990 houses.
Councils had to determine just where all these houses will go and to consult the public producing a Core Strategy which would eventually be submitted to the Secretary of State as set out above, through the Local Development Framework process. A significant amount of development would have been on green belt and green field land in open countryside merging some existing settlements in to one as green belt was built on.
Following the General Election in May, local councils are no longer required to follow these numbers,but continue to revise their Local Plans following similar procedure as for Local Development Frameworks in most instances.Check with the Councils below to find at what stage they are at with their Local Development Framework processes.
Hertfordshire councils
When phoning the Council Planning Departments, ask for the Planning Policy section who deal with Local Development Frameworks who will be able to help you. Click on their name to visit their website.
Broxbourne 01992 785559
Dacorum 01442 228000
East Herts Tel. 01279 655261
Hertsmere 020 8207 7583
North Herts 01462 474847
St Albans 01727 866100
Stevenage 01438 242242
Three Rivers 01923 776611 .
Watford 01923 226400
Welwyn Hatfield 01707 357000
London Boroughs
London Borough of Barnet 020 8359 4990
London Borough of Enfield 020 8379 3490
London Borough of Haringey 020 8489 4269
GUIDANCE IN RESPONDING TO THE CONSULTATION PROCESS.
For guidance in responding to the consultation process in regard to the Rights of Way affected, please contact the local Councils above which you are interested in.
Volunteers
Because the LDF process is local by nature, the RA requires volunteers to be able to feed in comments during the consultation process
Currently we have volunteers through existing footpaths secretaries dealing with the following Councils. St Albans, Hertsmere, Stevenage and N Herts and Three Rivers. Other footpath secretaries may be receiving planning consultation documents when released as they do for planning applications. So, other Councils may not yet be covered by representative of the RA.
The Open Spaces Society have provided guidance so that footpaths are 
protected before Planning Applications come in are put in, after completion of the Frameworks. Their advice - Information Sheet C17: "Local Development Frameworks, How to Protect the Publics Rights" can be ordered from their website.
But it is necessary to get your views in now before the Frameworks are completed and during the consultation process, as to how the footpaths shall be configured through the development. For example, if nothing is stated at this consultation stage, the paths may just end up as little more than alleyways through a housing estate. There is opportunity to present alternative suggestions such as the following:
- the footpath network to be improved, developed, enhanced . One can argue later what those words actually mean but it is good to have them there
- that non-vehicular routes must be an essential part of the development of a coherent community after the development/houses are built, perhaps emphasising that many, even most, of the existing routes can be incorporated at the planning stage
- that measures preserving the attractiveness of existing rights of way should try to be achieved. Preserving them within corridors, would often lose that specialness
- old routes should be preserved, or new ones created. Small streams can give a good focus if the swathe is wide enough (and save the developer money from not having to culvert). Green Lanes would
probably be a prime candidates for special preservation. See good advice on Natural England about Greenways.
They can be quite appropriate because of their spaciousness and all-weatherness near or linking new settlements. Greenways have a good and environment-friendly flavour, and can be a useful, and fairly easy concept to promote.
Hoddesdon Wood
Woodland Trust
