Over 1,300 responses received to revised draft Local Plan shaping the future of Dacorum

More than 1,300 people had their say on how Dacorum should look until 2040 during a six-week consultation on a revised Draft Local Plan.

Residents and businesses and visitors to the borough were encouraged to give their views to help to decide the plan and direction for Dacorum in the online consultation which ended last week.

The council’s Local Plan team also talked to many residents at in-person events and to youth councils across the borough.

The authority will analyse responses and prepare a consultation report due for spring 2024 after which a draft version of the Local Plan will be produced, followed by a further public consultation in autumn 2024 and a formal submission by spring 2025.

The Local Plan lays out the strategy for delivering new homes, jobs and investment. It will plan for important infrastructure such as schools, transport and health facilities and will also set an approach to protecting and providing parks and green spaces, as well as a response to the challenge of climate change. It will also provide the policies to be considered when decisions are made on planning applications.

Cllr Sheron Wilkie, who is Dacorum Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Place, said: “I would like to thank everyone, right across our communities, who took the time to provide their views as part of this consultation. All comments are extremely valuable in the Local Plan process as these let us know what you think about how things are now, what works and what doesn’t, and how we can make improvements so that Dacorum can become an even better place to live, work and visit.

“We will now be working hard to analyse all comments provided by the people across our communities so that they’re taken into consideration before we progress the plan.

“It has also been incredibly pleasing to see such a positive response from people to our new online engagement platform during the consultation. Once registered, you can have your say on a wide variety of projects and keep up to date with all the council is doing.”