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Local Plan

Introduction

This information is published by Chorleywood Residents' Association to help inform and support Residents with regards to the creation of the New Local Plan by Three Rivers District Council.

A period of non-statutory consultation ran for eight weeks with a closing date for submissions of 5:00pm on Friday 21st December 2018.

This is part of the creation of a New Local Plan.  This new Local Plan will directly influence planning decisions within TRDC, including Chorleywood, for the next 10-15 years.  

Proposed Changes to the Planning Framework - September 2020

The government recently issued two consultation papers proposing changes to the planning framework for England.  These proposals will significantly impact Chorleywood by changing the target number of houses in the Three Rivers district, and the rules that control them.  

CRA have carefully reviewed the proposals and are submitting a formal response to the government.  

See our Proposed Changes to the Planning Framework page for full details and use the online form to register your support.  We will pass the number of supporting residents to our MP, so every completed form counts.  

Note that the closing date for our and your responses to government is 1st October.

Update January 2020

A proposal for use of the land at East Green Street has been made. As this is an important matter for Chorleywood we have set up a dedicated page on our website. The web page includes links to the detailed information about the proposal presented at the public exhibition on 12th and 13th November, the public meeting on 20th November arranged by CRA, and also links to email communications. In January 2020 an Environmental Impact Scoping Opinion Request (EIAS) was made, and we now expect the planning application not to be submitted until February or March 2020.

We will continue to send occasional email communications to our subscribers when there is additional relevant information.

Local Plan Update - October 2019

Residents' Associations across the district all share concern over the significant increase in house building included in the new Local Plan. Due to very limited opportunities to develop on brownfield sites in the district, it is expected that the vast majority of these new houses will have to be built on Green Belt which would have a significant negative impact on the local environment.

In light of these shared concerns, Residents Associations across the district have come to together to form a new Three Rivers Joint Residents Association (TRJRA) through which we can work together in matters of shared concern.

For some months Chorleywood Residents' Association, along with the Three Rivers Joint Residents Association, has been talking to the local MP's, the Housing Minister and the District Council and challenging the excessive number of houses that the area is being asked to build in the next 15 years.

We are delighted that the council have recently announced that, as part of a revised plan for developing the Local Plan, it will be engaging with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss reducing the targets for house building so as to take account of more up to date population and living data and to protect more of the Green Belt.

As part of the new plan, it is expected that Public Consultation on the Local Plan and the sites selected for development , which had previously been expected to commence shortly, will now not occur until next summer. Your Residents' Association will continue to work with local councillors and officials to try and ensure that local residents' views are taken into account in the new Local Plan as early as possible in the process.

Local Plan Update - March 2019

The process of the council refining and preparing the new Local Plan is continuing apace. This information is intended to update residents on what is happening and how your association is working to represent the views of the residents of Chorleywood.

As discussed in our February 2019 newsletter, 25 further sites have been identified across Three Rivers since the consultation was undertaken by the council in December. These are listed in Appendix 1 - Additional Sites   Four of these additional sites are in Chorleywood. We have added them to our map which is shown below.  

As with the previous sites, we have undertaken an analysis of the sites against the rules laid down in the National Planning Policy Framework, which governs all planning decisions across the country, to identify any issues related to each site. You can view our analysis below, and also our letter to TRDC on 31st March 2019.

As the council is not proposing to undertake a formal consultation on these additional sites at this time, we have been speaking to the council to ensure that local residents have the same opportunity to comment on these as they did on the early list. As a result of this, we can advise you that the email address used for the consultation in December ( trldf@threerivers.gov.uk ) is being kept open for resident comments and we have been assured that it will be monitored with any comments submitted to it considered by the council in its evaluation of the sites.

The council has now established a separate sub-committee to consider the new Local Plan as it is developed further. The meetings of the sub-committee are, at least partially, being held in public. The next two meetings are on the 18th March and 18th April in the Penn Chamber at Three Rivers House.

Your residents' association is talking to the council on an ongoing basis to ensure that the process adopted is open and transparent, with as many matters being discussed in front of the public as is possible. Unfortunately, the council have decided that, for reasons of commercial sensitivity, they cannot discuss matters relating to individual sites in public at this time. However, there will be an opportunity for residents to comment on the council's final recommendations of which sites should be developed later in the process.

Your association will continue to challenge the council to make elements related to the plan public as soon as possible and to ensure that your views / issues are properly included in their considerations. We will keep residents updated on developments as soon as they become public.

If you have any queries or feel that there is information you can add to our analysis of the sites, please do not hesitate to contact us through planning@chorleywoodresidents.co.uk or enquiries@chorleywoodresidents.co.uk .

Chorleywood Residents' Association submissions to TRDC

CRA Letter to TRDC on 31st March 2019
On 31st March 2019, Chorleywood Residents' Association sent a further letter to TRDC in response to the additional sites.

Dear Sir / Madam

Re: Local Plan Additional Potential Sites for Consultation

Having become aware that a set of Additional Potential Sites for the new Local Plan being published, Chorleywood Residents Association has gathered information from local residents, business, schools, GP surgeries and other establishments  on the sites and, using this, conducted an analysis against: 

• the criteria relevant to sites defined in the National Planning Policy Framework,
• the Sustainability Framework being used by the district to evaluate sites, and
• general planning considerations.

From this, attached is a summary of our detail analysis on each site in Chorleywood Parish which we ask that you use in the development of the Local Plan in selecting preferred sites. 













CRA Submission to TRDC 18th December 2018

On 18th December 2018, Chorleywood Residents' Association submitted a response to TRDC.


Dear Sir / Madam

Re: Local Plan  Potential Sites for Consultation


In response to the Local Plan Potential Sites For Consultation, Chorleywood Residents Association has gathered information from local residents, business, schools, GP surgeries and other establishments and, using this, conducted an analysis against: 

• the criteria relevant to sites defined in the National Planning Policy Framework,
• the Sustainability Framework being used by the district to evaluate sites, and
• general planning considerations.

From this, attached is a summary of our detail analysis on each site which we would ask that you use in the development the Local Plan and in selecting preferred sites. 

... See full letter

Click on the image above, or on the link on the right to see the full letter and detailed site by site analysis.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19EYGR4piKXR5Cw9Ip3KK7Cx3lq4_OydZ/view?usp=sharing

In addition to this submission and review of Sites, Chorleywood Resident's Association have also written to TRDC and councillors, recommending that an alternative, much more strategic solution is required.

… See full letter









Potential Impact on Chorleywood

Overall, the target for development of new housing in Three Rivers has increased more than threefold from 180 a year currently to over 600 a year in the new plan or 9,600 houses over 15 years. To be clear, the council have no choice about accepting this increased target as without a Local Plan that can deliver on the required targets there is the potential for a planning free for all.

The consultation document on potential sites issued identifies the potential for up to 3,000 new houses being built around Chorleywood village, principally in Green Belt, potentially doubling the population of the village and resulting in Chorleywood being merged into Rickmansworth and Maple Cross. The potential impact of such an increase on the village could be horrendous, including:
  • Local schools being unable to accommodate the children of all local residents with children being forced to travel to primary and secondary schools outside of the area.
  • Increased pressure on local doctors surgeries
  • Significant increases of volumes of traffic on local roads that are already struggling to cope, particularly on narrow country lanes on which many of the proposed sites are based.
  • Making parking in the village even more difficult than it already is.
  • Further crowding on the tubes compounded by the expected expansion of Chalfont and Latimer further down the line.

Chorleywood Potential Sites and Map

The Potential Sites Document is for all 13 regions within TRDC.  Chorleywood is from page 48 to 53 of the document.  This is illustrated in the reproduction below.  They can be seen on the full map on page 53 of the Potential Sites document

The map below also shows the additional sites that were added after the document was issued for consultation.  These are in blue.





In total for Chorleywood there are 19 sites (15 original and 4 additional), ranging from 5-10 dwelling capacity up to over 1500 on one site!  The Site Reference indicates the source.
  • 8 from Call for Sites (CFS)
  • 3 from Previously Considered Sites (PCS)
  • 1 from Other Sites Put Forward (OSPF)
  • 3 from Additional Call for Sites (ACFS)
  • 4 additional sites added after the consultation document was issued (PSCFS)
The table below summarises the sites.  This is taken from the Potential Sites Document and from the additional Appendix 1: Additional Sites.

Site Ref  Address  Indicative  Dwelling Capacity
 CFS16  Land at Chorleywood Station (station car park and adjoining land)  115-185
 CFS18  Hill Farm, Stag Lane, Chorleywood  130-215
 PCS4  East Green Street, Chorleywood  680-900
 OSPF3  Land at Heronsgate, Chorleywood  1120-1680
 CFS15  Alabama & Waverley, Chenies Road, Chorleywood  40-60
 CFS17  Birdwood, Land at Hill Farm, Stag Lane, Chorleywood  35-55
 CFS29  Land at 2 Sarratt Lane  25-40
 CFS30  Land rear of Branksome Lodge  15-30
 CFS57  Pheasants Ridge Gap, Berry Lane, Chorleywood  15-25
 CFS72  Solesbridge Lane, Chorleywood  5-10
 ACFS1  Heath House, Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood  5-10
 ACFS5  Pond Field, Hall Farm, West Clayton  15-25
 ACFS6  Home Field, Berry Lane, West Clayton  10-20
 PCS6  Hall Farm, Berry Lane, Chorleywood  30-50
 PCS7  Hall Farm, Shepherds Lane, Chorleywood  25-40
 PSCFS10 Land North-East of Long Lane, Hersonsgate 30 - 40
 PSCFS19 Land South West of Berry Lane, Chorleywood 7 - 10
 PSCFS20a Beechengrove Wood, Loudwater 150 - 225 
 PSCFS20b Beechengrove Wood, Loudwater 280 - 415

CRA Review of Potential Sites

Chorleywood Residents Association, having undertaken an analysis of each of the sites against the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which is the governments guidance to local authorities on planning matters, provide some suggested comments that residents may wish to include in feedback they make to Three Rivers District Council on the plan proposals. 

These are just suggestions for inclusion in residents’ responses. Please do not copy them verbatim but use your own words as this will have more impact on TRDC and add any other observations you may have. Our analysis against the NPPF criteria needs bolstering with your local knowledge.

Follow the links below to see an overall summary, and also site by site reviews.


Top of page

Call to Action - Responding regarding the additional sites 

The original consultation on the closed at 5pm on Friday 21st December 2018.  

However CRA have been assured that the email address is still monitored, and that responses regarding the additional sites will be included.  

Responses to the  consultation can be submitted in writing in one of the following ways:
  • By email to: trldf@threerivers.gov.uk
  • By post to: Economic & Sustainable Development, Three Rivers District Council, Three Rivers House, Northway, Rickmansworth, Herts  WD3 1RL 
TRDC have asked that include your name and address when responding.

It is vital that as many people as possible make their views known. 

For More Information

Three Rivers District Council Website

Readers are reminded that TRDC is the definitive source and that information is subject to change.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback.  

For matters relating to the New Local Plan please email planning@chorleywoodresidents.co.uk

Other contact information can be found on the Contact Us page