AFTER several years of hard work from officers and members at East Herts Council, councillors have voted to officially adopt the East Herts District Plan.

An Extraordinary Full Council was held last night (October 23) to make the decision on whether to adopt the final version of Plan. This followed an Examination in Public by an independent inspector, who concluded that subject to some changes, which were made, the Plan was sound, and a holding direction by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) who, after a short investigation, also agreed with their inspector’s decision.

The Plan sets out how the district will develop over the next 15 years, providing new homes, jobs, schools and more, making East Herts an even better place to live, work and visit.

Now the decision has been made to adopt, the District Plan, together with local Neighbourhood Plans, will form the basis on which all future planning applications will be determined. All applications submitted in East Herts will need to meet the vision set out by the Plan to ensure that they are the right developments for the district.

Linda Haysey, Leader, East Herts Council said: “I’m delighted that we have finally adopted our District Plan after several years of working with residents, community groups, businesses and landowners to help us get the best for our district over the next 15 years.

“The Plan gives certainty to our communities as to where development will be and what opportunities there will be to live, work and invest in East Herts. It also allows our infrastructure providers to plan effectively to meet the needs of our current and future residents.”