Dacorum Borough Council's Draft Local Plan, is currently undergoing the Regulation 18 consultation stage.

One of the proposed developments, known as The Hemel Gardens Community project, aims to extend Hemel by building 11,000 homes, with 3,100 of them located in Redbourn Parish.

Cllr David Mitchell has responded to the consultation on behalf of Redbourn Parish Council and you can read the statement below

Hemel Garden Communities (HGC) - the Redbourn Parish area

The two proposed Broad Locations at North Hemel Hempstead and East Hemel Hempstead (North) have not been recommended to be taken forward for further consideration in the Green Belt Review (Stage 2, 2023) as they meet the purposes outlined in the NPPF, particularly the prevention of urban sprawl and coalescence between settlements, in this case Hemel Hempstead and Redbourn.

If development goes ahead, the gap between Redbourn and Hemel Hempstead will be significantly eroded to only 1 mile, measured from the edge of the HGC housing area to the proposed development at West Redbourn. Therefore, the HGC plan should not be proposing these areas for Green Belt release.

Furthermore, the areas to east and north of Hemel Hempstead appear to be comprised of Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (high likelihood). Which means that if developed the area would lose some of its best agricultural land, lost to future generations at a time when climate change is having immediate impacts on food production.

The HGC relies on both Local Plans of Dacorum Borough Council and St Albans City & District Council (SACDC) to come forward at approximately the same time. However, the SACDC grossly underestimates the lead in times for the development of the strategic proposals at Hemel Hempstead. The Draft Local Plan's housing trajectory assumes that the first dwellings will be delivered in 2028/29. However this does not consider the planning process required following adoption of the Local Plan which will include the preparation of Masterplans and Design Codes including working with the local community, the need to plan in accordance with the HGC Spatial Vision, HGC Charter and HGC Principles, Pre-Application processes, Preparing Outline Planning Applications, Approval of Reserved Matters, Discharging Conditions, Preparatory Site Works, Securing Funding, and the Delivery of On-Site and Off-Site Infrastructure.

Based on this our estimate (as a best-case scenario) is that the first delivery of housing would be 2037/38 shifting forward the housing trajectory by 8-9 years. SACDC has grossly overestimated the delivery rates at Hemel Hempstead. SACDC's housing trajectory assumes that 100 dwellings will be delivered in the first year. The trajectory currently assumes the annual delivery at Hemel Garden Communities will continue to increase until it peaks at 500 dwellings per annum and decreasing to 450 dwellings per annum. This assumes the delivery of 4,750 dwellings over 13 year which equates to an average of 365 dwellings per annum. SACDC claims that 750 dwellings will be delivered beyond the plan period and that development will conclude by 2050. There is no trajectory provided for this period of 2041 – 2050. Based on national evidence the average build out rate for strategic sites is 160 dwellings per annum.

On this basis, and in the case of just the sites in SACDC it would take over 34 years to deliver the figure of 5,500 dwellings set out in the Draft Local Plan No Account Taken of the Redbourn Neighbourhood Plan Redbourn Parish Council has worked closely with the local community to prepare its Neighbourhood Plan and Design Guidance and Codes (2021) with the Neighbourhood Plan being 'made' in 2023 following a successful referendum (89%) on 4th May. The Neighbourhood Plan covers the period 2020-2038, guides development within the Parish and provides guidance to interested parties wishing to submit planning applications.

The Neighbourhood Plan policies include seeking to:

• ensure any future developments is well designed and sympathetic to local character;

• promote high quality, sustainable eco-friendly design, that respects the environment qualities and landscape setting of the village;

• conserve and enhance the natural environment;

Please see the Redbourn Parish Council response to SADC Draft Local plan below. In particular references to the Hemel Gardens Communities.