Three Rivers Local Plan paused; minister intervenes

If you live, study or teach in Three Rivers, you’re going to hear a lot about the Local Plan. On 5 February 2026 the Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook MP, issued a holding direction to pause any adoption step on the council’s draft plan. After reviewing the evidence the council supplied, he then issued a formal intervention on 18 March 2026 setting out changes and a timetable the council must follow. Both letters were published on GOV.UK. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

A Local Plan is your area’s rulebook for where new homes, jobs, schools, transport links and green spaces should go. Councils consult the public in stages and, before submission, run a formal “publication” period known as Regulation 19 for at least six weeks. After that, an independent inspector examines whether the plan is legally compliant and sound. (gov.uk)

A holding direction is a legal instruction the minister can use while deciding whether to step in. Under section 21A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, added by the Housing and Planning Act 2016, it tells a council not to take any step towards adopting its plan until that decision is made. Three Rivers received exactly that instruction in February. (legislation.gov.uk)

Why did the minister act? In his February letter he said the emerging plan proposed to meet only 56% of local housing need, leaving a shortfall of over 5,000 homes, and he had little confidence it would be found sound or legally compliant at examination. He asked for the full evidence the council intended to publish for its planned Regulation 19 consultation. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

On 18 March, the minister moved from pause to direction. He required the council to modify the plan to include, as a minimum, a group of sites such as Kings Langley Estate south, land at Rousebarn Lane, East Green Street, south of Little Oxhey Lane, land east of Oxhey Lane and land to the east of Watford Road, with Batchworth Golf Course also named if lease issues are resolved. The stated aim is to lift delivery to around 85% of need. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

The intervention also fixes a timetable: begin a revised Regulation 19 consultation by 31 July 2026 for at least six weeks; submit the plan for examination by 30 November 2026; publish a revised Local Development Scheme by 30 June 2026; report monthly on progress; and do not withdraw the plan. The letter invites the council to set out any exceptional reasons against intervention by 25 March 2026. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

For you, this means no one has been granted planning permission by default. Instead, the government has told the council to amend the draft and consult again. When that consultation opens, you can send a representation on whether the plan is legally compliant and sound; those comments are then considered by an independent inspector at examination. (gov.uk)

The minister also pointed to why speed matters locally. Three Rivers’ current Local Plan dates to October 2011, its 2023 Housing Delivery Test score is 30% (the fifth lowest in England), which triggers the “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, and homes cost about 12.3 times median earnings versus an England average of 7.7. In short: housing need is pressing and the policy baseline is old. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

Green Belt will be part of this debate. National policy allows councils to alter Green Belt boundaries only in exceptional circumstances and only through the plan-making process. The minister has been clear the Three Rivers plan must reflect national policy, including where Green Belt release is justified. If you care about these choices, the Regulation 19 stage is your chance to read the evidence and respond. (planningaid.co.uk)

If you’re wondering how unusual ministerial pause-and-intervene powers are, they have been used before - for example, a holding direction was applied to Stevenage’s Local Plan in 2017 before being lifted. The important takeaway for us as readers is to follow the dates above, read the council’s evidence, and use the consultation window well. (stevenage.gov.uk)