New planning documents lock in the shape of Hemel Garden Communities

Dacorum has adopted a set of Supplementary Planning Documents that will sit on top of the emerging local plan for the Hemel Garden Communities programme area.

SPDs are not bedtime reading. They are the difference between a developer’s first layout and a neighbourhood that has schools, bus routes and parks in the right place. For HGC: the large growth area north of Hemel Hempstead: they are also a statement that the council intends to shape the expansion rather than simply receive it.

The examination of the local plan has been grinding through 2026. Inspectors have issued notes on suitable alternative natural greenspace in Markyate and on a Tring allocation after a planning application was refused. That is the sound of a plan being stress-tested, not signed off.

Separately, the Secretary of State has designated Dacorum so that some major applications can go straight to the Planning Inspectorate. The council has published a response. Combined with HGC, it means the biggest decisions about Dacorum’s next 20 years may not all be taken in The Forum.

If you live in Grovehill, Woodhall Farm, Redbourn Road or the villages toward Markyate, this is not abstract. It is the map of where the traffic, the school places and the footpaths will go.