The Local Plan Sub-Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the Green Belt Review and a draft Settlement Appraisal, both of which will inform the formulation of the Local Plan. The committee will also receive a verbal update on the Local Plan timetable.

Green Belt Review

The Local Plan Sub-Committee will be asked to agree to publish the Local Plan Green Belt Review report on the council's website.

The report provides an overview of the Appendix 1 - Green Belt Review 2025, which has been prepared to assist with the formulation of the Local Plan. The review was funded by the government and produced by independent consultants.

The report notes that over three quarters (76%) of the Three Rivers district is designated as Green Belt. The review assesses the district against the latest National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, 2024) and latest Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).

The report summarises the council's previous Green Belt studies:

• Stage 1 Green Belt Study (August 2017), undertaken jointly with Watford Borough Council, which strategically reviewed the Green Belt purposes, looking at 83 strategic parcels.
• Stage 2 Green Belt Study (October 2019) which considered the effect of releasing Green Belt land for development purposes, assessing a total of 152 parcels of land.
• Stage 3 Green Belt Study which analysed variations in harm to Green Belt purposes that could result from the creation of a new inset settlement.

The 2025 Green Belt Review considered these previous three stages of Green Belt Reviews, finding that they were still broadly in line with national policy.

The report notes that the NPPF sets out that alterations to Green Belt boundaries should only be made in exceptional circumstances through the plan making process, stating that:

where authorities cannot meet their identified need for homes, commercial or other development through other means, then this constitutes the exceptional circumstances for Green Belt release, and that release should meet those needs in full.

The NPPF includes a caveat, adding: unless the review provides clear evidence that doing so would fundamentally undermine the purposes (taken together) of the remaining Green Belt, when considered across the area of the plan.

The report also refers to the concept of grey belt¹, defined as:

*land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that, in either case, does not strongly contribute to any of purposes (a), (b), or (d) in paragraph 143. 'Grey belt' excludes land where the application of the policies relating to the areas or assets in footnote 7 (other than Green Belt) would provide a strong reason for refusing or restricting development. *

The review identifies provisional grey belt across the parcels that have been assessed at the settlement edge. It notes that sites that fall outside the assessed areas would need to be considered on a case by case basis, though many of these sites would fall in unsustainable locations.

The review also considered whether any changes in circumstances, including the identification of grey belt, would require amendments to the conclusions reached in Stage 1 Green belt Review. It recommends that Heronsgate² and Sarratt³ should remain washed over within the Green belt, and that Bedmond⁴ be considered for insetting within the Green Belt with a defined village envelope. However, the review also found that Bedmond fell into an area of 'fundamental importance' and that this should be taken into consideration on any decisions regarding insetting Bedmond. As such, officers are not recommending to remove Bedmond from the Green Belt.

The review identifies seven broad areas of fundamental importance where future growth should be considered carefully, to ensure that it does not fundamentally undermine the purposes of the Green Belt across the plan area.

Draft Settlement Appraisal

The Local Plan Sub-Committee will be asked to note the Local Plan Draft Settlement Appraisal report and the draft findings of the Appendix 1 - Draft Three Rivers Settlement Appraisal document. The report and draft Settlement Appraisal are only for noting at this stage as further work is required to be undertaken.

The report notes that the settlement pattern of Three Rivers is reflective of its close proximity to London, with a spatially dense network of villages and small towns, largely separated by the Green Belt. The appraisal seeks to characterise and categorise the settlements within the district, grouping them into a named hierarchy based on a mix of access to services, sustainable transport and population.

The report notes that the NPPF sets out that plans should promote a sustainable pattern of development that seeks to meet the development needs of their area. The PPG identifies the importance of a settlement hierarchy and in particular that a wide range of settlements can play a role in delivering sustainable development in rural areas.

The study assigned 8 key services to each settlement, scoring them based on their proximity to the settlement boundary. It also assessed transport options, scoring them on road infrastructure, bus service regularity and whether there was a train station. The combination of these scores were then tallied, and depending on how well the settlements scored, they were categorised as 'Very Good' 'Good' 'Fair' or 'Poor'.

A combination of population and sustainability score was used to create the initial settlement hierarchy terminology. The highest three categories for the settlement hierarchy are 'Principal Town' Small Town/Large Suburban Settlement and Large Village/Suburban Settlement.

Initial findings are that the settlements scoring 'Very Good' in sustainability terms are Rickmansworth⁵, Chorleywood, South Oxhey⁶, Croxley Green⁷ and Leavesden and Garston. The Principal Town is Rickmansworth and the Small Towns are Chorleywood, South Oxhey, Croxley Green and Abbots Langley⁸.

The report highlights that this document is a work in progress, with the results draft only and scoring or thresholds for categories may be subject to revision. Also, only settlements as far down as what were considered to be Service Centres have been assessed so far, with all other settlements with 100 residents and above to be assessed in the near future.

Local Plan Timetable Update

Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst OBE, Leader of the Council, Lead Member for the Local Plan, Chair of Constitution Sub-Committee, Chair Local Plan Sub-Committee, will provide a verbal update on the Local Plan timetable.