More about Dacorum's Countryside

Dacorum’s countryside outside of the main towns and villages covers 178 sq km. It includes a range of landscape forms such as scenic plateaus and ridges, river valleys and lowland vale. The countryside supports a network of scattered small villages and hamlets. Many villages have a traditional appearance, heritage buildings and historic cores which add to their appeal. In parts of the borough, the Grand Union Canal forms an important rural feature in the landscape.

We know that residents and interest groups value the countryside’s high environmental qualities including its rich historic heritage, varied wildlife and attractive landscapes.

The countryside is subject to a number of policy and environmental constraints including the Green Belt, the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and national and local wildlife designations. These all have an impact on the scope for major change in the countryside. 

However, the Government continues to support changes to the planning system to expand the opportunities for generally small-scale development and changes of use in rural locations. On occasion, there may be the opportunity for larger-scale change on previously developed sites.

Currently, there are no made neighbourhood plans for the smaller villages. However, Great Gaddesden Parish Council are at the early stages of preparing their neighbourhood plan.

The revised strategy for growth does not propose any fundamental change to the development strategy for the countryside. We intend to continue to apply a more restrictive approach to new development bearing in mind its many sensitivities. Therefore, we are not intending to allocate any new housing sites.

Given policy and environmental constraints, only modest levels of growth can be accommodated in the countryside. In principle, it is the least sustainable location for new development due to the lack of facilities, poor accessibility and limited public transport infrastructure. Furthermore, the smaller settlements are generally more sensitive to change and it is important we protect their character and quality.

However, we anticipate that most of the growth in the countryside will come from modest sized schemes involving land previously used for agricultural buildings, small-scale infilling, affordable housing schemes on the edge of villages and changes of use. New permitted development rights and more flexible national policy will help encourage these to come forward.