Speak Up Hertfordshire!

What is the East of England Plan?

The East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) has started a rapid review of the East of England Plan for the region with a view to extending it to 2031 and enabling further rises in housing numbers.

The long-term planning outline for the development of the region is provided by the East of England Plan (which is also known as a Regional Spatial Strategy). The current Plan approved by the Government in 2008 covers the period 2001-2021 and includes policies covering a wide range of issues ranging from the amount and distribution of future housing and economic growth through to protection of the environment, transport priorities and infrastructure, minerals and waste, water resources, and so on.

The Plan is the basis by which local authorities prepare their local planning documents and provides important information for business and service providers (such as the NHS, Highways Agency and water and electricity companies) in planning the future of their services and investment requirements.

For Hertfordshire, the approved Plan contains a requirement to provide 83,200 new homes and 68,000 new jobs in the period 2001-2021, including major housing growth at Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Hatfield/Welwyn Garden City.

It identifies these four towns, together with Watford, as settlements at which development and change will be concentrated. In addition, the Plan contains a commitment to major growth of up to 10,000 homes, and possibly more, to the north of Harlow in Hertfordshire.

Why is the East of England Plan being reviewed?

The approved East of England Plan contains a requirement for housing in the region to grow by 508,000 new homes over the period 2001-2021, an average of 25,400 new homes per year. Whilst only approved by the Government last year, the Plan contains a commitment to an immediate Review to increase housing growth in the last ten years of the approved Plan (2011-2021) and to extend housing growth requirements to 2031 and beyond.