Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan for Submission Proposed amendments to Green Space policies: Additional public consultation February/March 2016 Report of Consultation April 2016 [Intentionally blank page] i Preface Hertsmere Borough Council’s Site Allocations and Development Management Policies (SADM) Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in November 2015 and is currently being examined by independent Inspector Mr John Mattocks. At the request of the Inspector, the council has put forward suggested changes to the policies SADM35 Major Green Space and SADM36 Local Green Space and the sites to which they apply. These changes have been subject to public consultation during the examination period. This report of consultation sets out the way in which the consultation was undertaken, the number of representations received, a summary of the main issues raised in those representations and the council’s brief response to those issues. The report and the representations received were submitted to the Inspector in advance of the examination hearings scheduled for 12-14 April 2016. ii Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Notification and Publicity ................................................................................................................ 3 3. Summary of Representations and Responses ................................................................................ 4 4. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Appendix 1: Inspector’s note on Local Green Space 29/12/2015 .......................................................... 9 Appendix 2: Extract from Council’s Hearing Statement (Document HBC/1) ........................................ 11 Appendix 3: Note from Inspector 12/02/2016 ..................................................................................... 26 Appendix 4: Text of notification email/letter ....................................................................................... 29 Appendix 5: List of Bodies and Persons notified of consultation on proposed changes to SADM35 and SADM36 of the submitted Plan............................................................................................................. 31 Appendix 6: Press release issued 24/02/2016 ...................................................................................... 37 Appendix 7: Press release as on Council website ................................................................................. 38 Appendix 8: e-alert................................................................................................................................ 39 Appendix 9: Summary of representations ............................................................................................ 40 Appendix 10: Local Green Space Revised Site Assessment Matrix ....................................................... 50 iii 1. Introduction 1.1 At its full Council meeting on 8 July 2015, Hertsmere Borough Council resolved that the Submission Site Allocations and Development Management (SADM) Policies Plan “be approved for publication and submission to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for public examination following a six week period in which representations may be made on the Plan.“ It was also approved for interim use in the determination of all planning applications from the date of its publication, in accordance with paragraph 216 of the National Planning Policy Framework. 1.2 The Submission Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan (‘the Plan’) was published on 31 July 2015. The period for representations ran from Monday 3 August to Monday 14 September 2015. 1.3 The Plan, together with representations received and all other documents required under the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 was submitted to the Secretary of State on 16 November 2015. 1.4 The Inspector wrote to the Council on 29 December 2015 raising a number of concerns in respect of policies SADM 35 Major Green Space and SADM36 Local Green Space in the submitted Plan. (Appendix 1). The note set out that the Inspector “considers it necessary for all of the potential Local Green Space (LGS) sites to be re-evaluated against the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) criteria and further evidence brought forward to show that the sites are, indeed, ‘demonstrably special’ and ‘of particular local significance’ for the local community.” 1.5 The Inspector also invited the Council to • put forward a revised wording for Policy SADM35 Major Green Space in order to bring it more in line with paragraph 74 of the NPPF, and • amend the wording of Policy SADM36 Local Green Space in order to refer to ‘very special’, rather than ‘exceptional’ circumstances as the test to be applied to proposals for development on sites to which the policy applies. 1 1.6 The Council has therefore • undertaken a review of the sites identified as Local Green Spaces in the submitted Plan and identified nine sites for which it proposes to retain the Local Green Space designation. • proposed a new Policy SADM35 Open Space, Sports and Leisure Facilities to replace the submitted Policy SADM35 Major Green Space. This new policy would apply to: - sites that were originally proposed to be designated as Major Green Spaces in the submitted Plan (now to be called ‘Open Spaces’ rather than ‘Major Green Spaces’), and - sites that were originally proposed to be designated as Local Green Spaces in the submitted Plan but following the review of sites are now proposed to be re-classified as Open Spaces. • proposed an amendment to Policy SADM36 Local Green Space as requested by the Inspector. This policy would apply to the nine sites retaining the Local Green Space designation. • proposed amendments to the supporting text to these policies as a result of the above changes . 1.7 Further explanation and evidence in support of these proposed changes is set out in the Council’s Hearing Statement (Document HBC/1) submitted to the Inspector (Appendix 2). 1.8 The Inspector’s response was set out in a further note in which he confirmed his request that the Council undertake public consultation on the proposed changes prior to the public hearings scheduled to start on 12 April 2016. (Appendix 3) The hearings had been scheduled to start in February 2016 but were postponed by the Inspector. This provided an opportunity to carry out a period of public consultation on potential changes to the SADM plan arising from the examination. It should be emphasised that there would still be a requirement to statutorily consult on any main modifications following the hearings. 1.9 The proposed changes were made available for public comment for a four week period, as agreed with the Inspector, between Monday 22 February 2016 and Monday 21 March 2016 (5pm). Minor amendments to some of the proposed wording and names of the sites which had been included in document HBC/1 submitted to the Inspector were incorporated into the consultation documentation. Four sites which had been inadvertently missed off the list of sites included in HBC/1 were also added to the consultation documentation. 2 2. Notification and Publicity 2.1. Details of the proposed changes were made available in accordance with Regulation 35 i.e. on the Council’s website and in hard copy form at 10 other locations across Hertsmere. These other locations were: • Main Council offices in Borehamwood and district offices in Potters Bar and Bushey • Parish Council offices at Shenley and Radlett (Aldenham Parish Council) • Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council offices • Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Radlett and Bushey libraries 2.2. Letters/emails containing notification that the Council had proposed changes to the submitted SADM policies SADM35 and SADM36, that details of the changes and how to make representations were available for inspection, and the places and times at which this information could be inspected were sent out on 19 and 22 February 2016. A copy of the notification is attached at Appendix 4. 2.3. Those notified included: a) statutory consultees as set out in Regulation 2(1) of the Regulations; b) general consultees including interest groups, residents’ and other organisations; c) Hertsmere Borough Council departments d) all those who had made representations on the published version of the Plan during the August/September 2015 period for representations, unless they had specifically requested no further correspondence concerning the Plan. See Appendix 5 for further details of those notified. 2.4. A Press release was also issued at the end of February (copy at Appendix 6). This was also displayed on the Council’s website (Appendix 7). A copy of the e-alert sent to 802 people registered to receive Planning news via email is at Appendix 8. 3 3. Summary of Representations and Responses Representations received 3.1. Representations were received from the following: Aldenham Parish Council Bushey Museum Property Trust Bushey Heath Residents Association CALA Management Ltd Mr R Dunkley (resident of Bushey) Mrs Whitaker (resident of Bushey) Mr Whitaker (resident of Bushey) Mrs J McNulty (resident of Bushey) Mr P McNulty (resident of Bushey) Mrs J Steer (resident of Bushey) Sir A Steer (resident of Bushey) Mr W Whitaker (resident of Bushey)