Developer resubmits plans for 1,400 homes by town

Tim Noden said the plans to the east of Tring represent "a significant opportunity to deliver on Dacorum's long-established housing need"

Plans for 1,400 new homes have been resubmitted after a council included them in its Local Plan having at first successfully appealed against the project.

Developer Harrow Estates said the proposed new garden village suburb, known as Marshcroft, in Tring, Hertfordshire, would include a new primary school, provision for a secondary school, sports hub and green spaces.

The firm said the project was a key part of Dacorum Borough Council's New Local Plan to 2041.

A previous application for the homes was the subject of an inquiry in 2023 and the former levelling up secretary Michael Gove ruled against the green belt development in March 2024.

The project was rejected in 2024 over concerns it "would fail to conserve the special qualities of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty"

The countryside charity, CPRE Hertfordshire, said it was "surprised and dismayed to find that Dacorum Borough Council, after having invested all that time, effort and money at [an] inquiry, has now done an about-face".

Dacorum Borough Council said that its Local Plan draft revisited recommendations for several sites, including Marshcroft in response to changes to national planning policy.

It added that this highlighted the need for local plans to fully address their area's identified housing needs.

Harrow Estates said that under the revised National Planning Policy Framework the new application fully accorded with policy as a grey belt site.

The developer, which is part of the Redrow Barratt Group, said Marshcroft would provide about 1,400 new homes with 700 (50%) of them classed as affordable.

It added that this would contribute significantly towards meeting the needs of local people currently priced out of living or remaining in the area.

The developer said a neighbourhood centre would be created in the new suburb

The planning application includes planting new trees and the creation of new and improved habitats which would become a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace.

Consultation on the plans will due to start at the end of the month and Dacorum's new Local Plan to 2041 is expected to be adopted in the coming months.

Tim Noden, the planning director at Harrow Estates, said: "With plans now submitted to Dacorum Council for determination, we have reached a milestone which puts us on track to deliver new homes by 2029/30."