Call for Sites FAQs

The East Herts District Plan was adopted in October 2018. The Council agreed in October 2023 that the District Plan needs updating. The benefits of having an up-to-date and clear framework in place cannot be underestimated. Given that the District Plan is now over five years old, and to ensure that it continues to be effective for our communities, it is vital that the Council now updates the Plan to take account of changing circumstances.

To update the District Plan, a large quantity of underpinning evidence is required to support any strategy that the Council will ultimately choose to propose going forward. One strand of this evidence base is a Call for Sites.

A Call for Sites is an information gathering exercise which helps the Council to understand what land is potentially available for development within the district. It is an opportunity for landowners, developers, agents, and site promoters to submit sites, within East Herts, which are considered to have potential for development. We also welcome the submission of other sites that could contribute to nature enhancement and recovery in East Herts.

A wide range of uses are encouraged for submission through the Call for Sites including:

Mixed use development
Housing – General/ Specialist for older people/ Affordable/ Self-build and custom/ Gypsy and Traveller/ Travelling Showpeople / Park Homes
Commercial – Retail/ Employment spaces/ Offices/ Industrial/ Warehousing
Leisure, recreation, and community facilities
Open green space
Renewable energy
Sites for biodiversity net gain (BNG) and/or nature recovery

Therefore, the Call for Sites in East Herts is not limited to areas of land with development potential, as submission of other sites that could contribute to nature enhancement and recovery in the district are also welcomed.

Following the Call for Sites, submitted sites are then assessed for their likely suitability, availability, and achievability. The submission of a site for consideration does not necessarily mean the site will go on to be allocated for development – decisions on potential site allocations are taken much later on in the plan-making process.

The sites will be assessed on a variety of factors, including (but not limited to) the following:

Physical constraints, e.g. flood risk, contamination, access
Environmental constraints e.g. biodiversity implications
Heritage setting
Land use - adjacent, previous, and current
Location within the district
Sustainability - Proximity to education, employment, services and infrastructure e.g. public transport

The Call for Sites is the first step in selecting potential sites for allocation in the emerging District Plan Review. This is a complex process, where a lot of evidence will need to be collated and considered before any decisions are taken, in due course.

The Local Development Scheme (LDS) sets out the timetable for the preparation of the District Plan Review. It provides up-to-date information so that interested parties will know when they can participate in the plan-making process.

The latest LDS was agreed by Council in October 2024. This can be viewed here: East Herts Local Development Scheme

In the meantime, following the Call for Sites, the Council will begin to consider the merits of all of the submitted sites.

Anyone can submit a site for consideration, including individuals or organisations, landowners, developers, agents, and local businesses. Please note that details of ownership and support from the landowner/s will be required. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted as contact details are essential for progressing any potential site.

For each proposed site, an online submission form should be completed including a plan showing the precise site boundaries. The plan should be plotted via the online form by using either the plotting tool or can be uploaded as a GEOJSON file attachment.

If you require any support completing the form, please use the contact details below.

Once the form is submitted successfully, you will receive an acknowledgement email to say that we have received the site submission, with a separate reference number for each site.

Sites can be greenfield or previously developed (brownfield) land.
The site needs to be wholly or partially within East Herts District.
Submitted sites must have an area of at least 0.25 hectares or be capable of accommodating 5+ dwellings or 500+ sqm of employment floorspace.
Sites can be submitted for a large variety of proposed uses.

The Call for Sites is an opportunity to propose land within East Herts that could be used for offsite biodiversity net gain (BNG). BNG is a way of creating and enhancing natural habitats over at least 30 years. BNG cannot always be provided on the development site, so developers can pay other landowners to carry out habitat improvements on their behalf.

We also welcome the submission of other sites that could contribute to nature enhancement and recovery in East Herts. This includes opportunities for habitat restoration and creation that do not meet the BNG monitoring and management requirements but could help enhance the district’s natural environment.

Please note, if you are putting forward a site for habitat creation or enhancement, you can also ask for this to be considered as part of Hertfordshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). This strategy is being developed by Hertfordshire County Council and aims to identify locations to create, enhance or recover habitats in the county. It is a separate process from the Call for Sites. Identification of your site in the LNRS could provide opportunities to attract investment and funding through land enhancement. For more information and to register your site in the LNRS see Hertfordshire Nature Recovery Partnership | Hertfordshire County Council.

Please complete the form with as much detail as possible. The form requires information on the following:

Land ownership
Site features - location/ size/ facilities/ access
Any current or previous land use
Site constraints, including environmental
Proposed land use
Estimated timescale for development
Site boundary

The online form contains all the information that the Council requires at this stage. If further information is required, we will contact you in due course.

Yes. We are not automatically assuming any sites submitted in the past are still available, so you will need to complete a new form.

Please note, if your site is already allocated in the current District Plan, there is no need to resubmit.

The Call for Sites consultation is now closed. We anticipate there will be future opportunities to submit further sites in due course.

At this stage the Council will work on assessing the areas of land submitted through the Call for Sites process to sieve those that are likely to have potential for future development or other proposed uses, as described above.

It would not be appropriate or the best use of resources for the Council to invite comments on sites at this stage as a proportion of them will not progress beyond the initial assessment because they do not meet the necessary requirements.

Whilst the Council is not currently asking for comments or objections on the Call for Sites, it should be noted that there will be an opportunity in due course to comment on any draft proposed site allocations as we develop the plan.

If you wish to be kept informed of the progress of the District Plan Review, why not sign up to our Newsletter? You can sign up here.

Details of the submitted sites will be available for the public to view as a list and on an interactive map after the Call for Sites is closed.

All sensitive information, including contact details, will be redacted prior to site submissions being made public.

Information submitted will be processed using your consent; you can revoke this at any time by emailing callforsites@eastherts.gov.uk. We get all of your information directly from you. Your information will be retained in line with our Retention Schedule. For more information on your data subject rights,