New Local Plans
In July 2023, the District Council published its new Regulation 18 Local Plan (the first draft for public consultation). The Plan’s spatial strategy rightly contends that the City of St Albans continues to be the pre-eminent focus in the District for housing, employment, services, retail, the nighttime economy, education and healthcare.
It also continues to identify North St Albans as one of the intended locations for growth as a “Broad Location”. The Broad Locations are part of a suite of sustainable development sites required to provide a sufficient amount of good quality housing which meets the needs of all sections of society in sustainable locations. Brownfield sites and urban development sites have all been considered by the City & District Council, who have continued to conclude that some Green Belt land must be released in order to satisfy the chronic housing shortage.
Meeting St Albans’ Needs
The Plan recognises that to provide the development land required to meet St Albans’ social and economic needs, some Green Belt land should be released. The City & District Council commissioned Arup to assess the quality of the Green Belt in St Albans District; Arup’s study considered the contribution of individual fields and parcels around the main settlements rather than the overall sites identified in the Broad Locations. At Woollam Park the fields that have been examined are said to make a strong contribution to some Green Belt functions, but less to others. The Arup Study is different from the previous SKM Study which looked instead at the Green Belt function of potential development locations.
Consequently, there is no equivalent assessment by Arup of the overall effect of development at Woollam Park on the Green Belt. St Albans City & District Council have also stressed that the Green Belt study is only one strand of their assessment of suitable sites, with urban proximity, sustainability and deliverability also key.