Dacorum starts a new Local Plan on Friday. A three-week scoping consultation closes on 2 October, and landowners can put forward sites until 23 October.

Dacorum Borough Council starts work on a new Local Plan at midday on Friday 11 September, and it opens a call for sites on the same day.

The call for sites is the part that decides where houses get built. It runs for six weeks, to 5pm on Friday 23 October 2026, and it is the moment landowners and developers put fields, yards and back gardens forward for allocation. The scoping consultation that runs alongside it is shorter, closing at 5pm on Friday 2 October.

The decision was published on 8 September by the council’s Assistant Director for Planning, under powers Cabinet delegated in June (Dacorum Borough Council decision record).

What you are being asked, and what you are not

This first stage is deliberately thin. Under Regulation 20 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, a scoping consultation asks only two things:

  • what the Local Plan should cover
  • how you want to be involved as it progresses

There are no policies in it, no housing number, and no proposed sites. The council’s own report says the material “is not contentious, does not include any specific policies”, which is why it did not need Cabinet approval.

The council has chosen to publish its baseline evidence alongside it and invite comment on that. It has also chosen to notify everyone on its consultation database, not just the statutory bodies the regulations require.

What it means for you: if there is a subject you want the next plan to take seriously, whether that is Green Belt, flooding on the Gade, town centre vacancies or bus services, this is the stage where naming it costs you three sentences. Arguing about a specific site is for 2027 and 2028.

The dates, all the way to adoption

The government has put every council on a 30 month clock to produce a plan once it passes Gateway 1. Dacorum has to pass Gateway 1 on or before 31 October 2026. The council’s approved timetable then runs like this.

Timetable for the Dacorum Local Plan to 2045 Eight stages. Notice of intention published 30 June 2026. Scoping consultation 11 September to 2 October 2026, with a call for sites to 23 October. Gateway 1 self-assessment 31 October 2026, starting the 30 month clock. Plan content and evidence consultation 7 May to 18 June 2027. Gateway 2 advice sought 6 August 2027. Proposed plan consultation 17 February to 13 April 2028. Gateway 3 advice sought 22 June 2028. Submission to the Secretary of State 22 October 2028. Adoption 30 April 2029. Dacorum Local Plan to 2045: the approved timetable Three public consultations, three government gateways, and a target adoption date of 30 April 2029. 30 June 2026 Notice of intention to start the plan published. 11 Sep to 2 Oct 2026 Scoping consultation. Call for sites runs to 23 October. 31 October 2026 Gateway 1 self-assessment. The 30 month clock starts. 7 May to 18 June 2027 Consultation on plan content and evidence, six weeks. 6 August 2027 Gateway 2. Advice sought from the Planning Inspectorate. 17 Feb to 13 Apr 2028 Consultation on the proposed plan itself, eight weeks. 22 Oct 2028 Submitted for examination, after Gateway 3 on 22 June. 30 April 2029 Target adoption date. Source: Dacorum Borough Council Local Plan timetable, in effect from 30 June 2026, and the officer decision published 8 September 2026. Graphic by Hemel Hempstead Live.
The timetable has to be reviewed every month under the new regulations, so these dates can move.

The new plan will be called the Dacorum Local Plan to 2045. The council says it will be “mainly digital and map-based”, with more site allocations and fewer local policies than the plans it replaces, because more planning standards are about to be set nationally.

Two plans at once, and the council knows it looks odd

Dacorum already has a Local Plan in the system. The Local Plan to 2041 was submitted for examination in March 2025, has been through three stages of hearings, and is still waiting on the inspectors. Officers “await the next steps on that plan”.

The 2026 regulations gave the council no room to wait for it. The council must now run both, and its own Cabinet report is blunt about the consequences:

  • there is “expected to be some criticism from the local community” for taking this approach
  • there is “likely to be confusion about what each consultation is”
  • the work “has not been budgeted for this year”
  • officer resource “will be split” between the two

The council’s Assistant Director for Planning wrote to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government asking for a meeting about whether any flexibility could be given. The report records the answer bluntly: “The Council is not currently expecting any flexibility to be afforded.”

Withdrawing the 2041 plan was considered and rejected. Officers said it would leave the borough with no up to date policy framework, including for “speculative developments on designated Green Belt”, after work that began in 2017.

Dacorum is not alone. The regulations catch 38 other planning authorities, including neighbouring St Albans, on the same June and October deadlines.

The reorganisation that was going to inherit this plan has been paused

Until last week the plan was being written for a council with a closing date. Under the government’s reorganisation decision, Dacorum and St Albans were to be replaced by a new West Hertfordshire Council on 1 April 2028, with elections to a shadow authority in May 2027.

On 7 September 2026 the government announced a review of every reorganisation decision in England except Surrey’s, and Hertfordshire’s is in it. The council’s Leader, Cllr Sally Symington, confirmed the consequence the next day:

  • the shadow authority elections will not take place in May 2027
  • councils go back to their usual cycle, which “for Dacorum will be full Dacorum Borough Council and parish council elections”
  • the council is “frustrated and disappointed by the way this decision has been taken”

(Dacorum Borough Council, 8 September 2026)

Two of the council’s own pages had not caught up on 10 September. Its reorganisation page, last updated 22 July, still says the four unitary councils will take over “from 1 April 2028” and that “elections will be held in May 2027”. Its Future Local Plan page, updated 12 August, still refers to “the new unitary authorities that will replace Hertfordshire’s county and district councils from April 2028”.

The June Cabinet report had judged the reorganisation implications “currently limited”, on the reasoning that the notice had to be published before the government decided anything. That reasoning has held up better than the timetable it was written against.

What it means for you: the plan is now being prepared for Dacorum borough as it stands, by a council that will still exist in May 2027 and will face a full election then. Whether a successor authority ever inherits the plan is an open question with no published answer date.

Other things the new system changes

The 2026 regulations end sixteen years of the old plan-making system. Alongside the gateways, the council’s report lists changes worth knowing:

  • the Duty to Cooperate is no longer a legal requirement, though councils are still expected to engage on cross boundary issues including unmet housing need
  • the Statement of Community Involvement is replaced by an Engagement Strategy, due later this year
  • a new National Planning Policy Framework is expected, with a national set of development management policies intended to strip detail out of local plans
  • new government guidance covers the use of artificial intelligence to process and summarise consultation responses

How to take part

The consultation opens at 12pm on Friday 11 September and closes at 5pm on Friday 2 October. The call for sites opens at the same time and closes at 5pm on Friday 23 October.

As of 10 September the council had not yet published the consultation pages, which is consistent with a midday Friday start. The place to look is the council’s Future Local Plan page, which carries the notice and the timetable, and the Strategic Planning team can be reached at strategic.planning@dacorum.gov.uk.

If you want to see what a plan-making argument looks like in practice first, our report on the Tring appeal over 1,400 homes covers a site from the current plan that is now being fought at a public inquiry.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Dacorum Local Plan consultation close?

The scoping consultation opens at 12pm on Friday 11 September 2026 and closes at 5pm on Friday 2 October 2026. The call for sites opens at the same time and runs longer, closing at 5pm on Friday 23 October 2026.

What is a call for sites?

It is the stage where landowners, developers and anyone else can put forward land they think should be allocated for development in the new plan. Submitting a site does not mean it will be allocated, but sites that are never submitted are much less likely to be considered.

What happened to the Dacorum Local Plan to 2041?

It is still at examination. It was submitted in March 2025, has been through three stages of hearings, and the council is waiting for the inspectors’ next steps. If it is found sound and adopted, it will guide development until the Local Plan to 2045 replaces it.

When will the new Local Plan be adopted?

The council’s approved timetable gives a target adoption date of 30 April 2029, after submission for examination on 22 October 2028. The regulations require the timetable to be reviewed every month, so the dates can change.

Will Dacorum Borough Council still exist when the plan is adopted?

That is unresolved. Dacorum was to be replaced by a West Hertfordshire Council on 1 April 2028, but the government put that decision under review on 7 September 2026 and cancelled the May 2027 shadow authority elections. No date has been published for the review’s outcome.

Sources