Local Plan

Every local authority has to produce a Local Plan which details how and where housing, employment, leisure etc will be located.

The new plan, which should have run from 2027 until 2036 has been abandoned by Hertsmere Borough Council after some 18,000 residents objected to it. It was particularly controversial as the Government had set housing targets that every local authority had to achieve. Hertsmere believes this is only possible through the use of Green Belt land, but residents thought otherwise.

Hertsmere wanted to build nearly 12,000 houses - based on out of date housing demand figures - of which Bushey was expected to supply land for a total of 2,895. 310 (down from 350) of those houses are planned for Harts Farm and the surrounding fields, with land laid aside for a primary school.

The Draft Local Plan - already delayed by a year - was published at the end of 2021  and went out for public consultation.  Instead of being considered by a Government Planning Inspectorate this year, it is now back to the drawing board.

Whilst many believed that this was a victory for the residents, the truth is that every bit of green belt in Bushey and the wider borough is now open to speculative planning applications and there is no Local Plan to fall back on to protect sites.