Welwyn Hatfield councillors have recommended that the authority prepares an entirely new Local Plan – less than a year after the current Local Plan was agreed.
Councillors on the Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel agreed on the proposal, which still needs to be signed off by the full Cabinet, at a meeting on Thursday (August 15).
Work on the existing Local Plan began in 2012, and it was adopted in October last year after finally gaining approval from the national Planning Inspector.
Local Plans outline how councils will meet their housing requirements, and identify sites that will be built on in the coming years.
Welwyn Hatfield’s current plan included a commitment from the council to begin a review of it no later than October 2024.
Officers last week recommended that councillors opt for a “full review”, meaning a new Local Plan, rather than a partial review only.
A review is required because the current plan proposed to build 13,400 homes between 2016 and 2036 – less than the identified housing need of 15,200 homes.
The previous need for 15,200 homes would have meant building an average of 760 homes per year. Under new mandatory housing targets recently proposed by the government, Welwyn Hatfield would be expected to build 834 homes per year.
Welwyn Hatfield has built significantly fewer homes in recent years than suggested by either figure – 442 were built in 2022/23 and 258 in 2021/22.
The government is currently consulting on the proposed planning changes, and they are expected to take effect from Summer or Autumn 2025.
According to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s Principal Planner, the changes – once finalised – will be used for the drafting of this Local Plan.
The council’s Planning Policy & Implementation Manager told councillors the new plan would “last longer” than the current one.
He said a new plan, rather than a partial review, would bring “opportunities” to “go further” in areas such as climate change.
If the proposal for a new Local Plan is signed off, high-level engagement will begin this year to “understand opportunities and challenges” facing Welwyn Hatfield, without discussing the proposed number of new homes or the locations for building them.
These will be consulted at a later date, with the submission of the Local Plan expected to happen in October 2026. The government has said new Local Plans must be submitted by December 2026.
Cllr Pankit Shah asked whether officers were “confident” a new Local Plan could be prepared within three years, given how long the previous plan took to finalise.
The council’s assistant director for planning said his department has enough resources to “do the work we need to do to reach those milestones”.
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