Why our Pancake Day HIDB event stacks up as our best attended meeting to date

5 minute read

HIDB members convened at the historic Riding School in Hatfield House for our first meeting of 2025, which we are delighted to say, was also the Board’s best-attended members meeting to date, with more than 140 people from the public and private sector coming together once again to discuss the future of Hertfordshire.

In true Pancake Day style, the gathering stacked up an enviable panel; jam-packed with attendance from council leaders, senior officers, industry professionals and government representatives to address key topics impacting Herts’ future.

Launching the session, Mayor Peter Taylor, Chair of the HIDB and Mayor of Watford Borough Council, extended a warm welcome to attendees and more than 10 new members who have joined us since the last meeting, highlighting the significance of the day’s agenda and the collective commitment to driving sustainable growth in Hertfordshire.

Joseph Baum from Meeting Place then provided an update on the HIDB’s activities since the last meeting, encouraging members to follow us on LinkedIn and suggest areas and subjects for future events, ensuring that the HIDB remains responsive to Hertfordshire’s evolving needs.

Navigating the new NPPF with expert insight

One of the most anticipated discussions of the morning focused on understanding the implications of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for Hertfordshire. Rebecca Phillips, Professional Lead for Planning Appeals at the Planning Inspectorate, and Josef Cannon KC of Cornerstone Barristers, shared their expert perspectives.

Key updates from the planning inspectorate

Phillips provided an overview of the Planning Inspectorate’s role in ensuring developments are appropriately located while protecting the environment. She noted a recent increase in Local Plan submissions, with St Albans and Dacorum making notable progress.

She also highlighted efforts in ensuring full Local Plan coverage, urging local authorities to advance their plans to guard against speculative development. She then gave an update on new policies, including:

The reintroduction of mandatory housing targets and the importance of maintaining a five-year land supply.
The introduction of golden rules for Green Belt land, shifting how planning decisions are made in protected areas.
A new duty on protected landscapes, meaning decision-makers must now actively demonstrate how they have furthered environmental protections, rather than just ‘having regard’ to them.
The Planning Inspectorate’s role in examining Crown development applications, such as MOD and infrastructure projects, which can now bypass local authorities.

Understanding the grey belt and housing reforms

Josef Cannon KC then delved into contentious changes introduced by the NPPF, particularly surrounding the grey belt and the new standard method for calculating housing need.

The grey belt policy, now backed by updated Planning Policy Guidance, introduces new considerations for classifying land use. He noted that while the government aims to remove outdated constraints, the guidance remains vague, creating potential planning disputes.

Regarding housing targets, he explained the new methodology bases figures on 0.8% of existing housing stock, leading to a nationwide increase from 306,000 to 372,000 homes per year. For Hertfordshire, this represents an uplift from circa 8,000 homes per year to 10,000 —a 25% increase in housing requirements— which will require more applications, allocations and permissions.

The tilted balance in planning decisions was another key topic of discussion, with Cannon noting that authorities lacking a five-year land supply may find it more challenging to refuse applications.

Government’s plan for growth

As our guest speaker, Alastair Strathern, MP for Hitchin and the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor, joined remotely from Westminster to discuss how the UK Government and Hertfordshire can collaborate to deliver economic growth.

Alistair emphasised the importance of:

Removing planning and infrastructure barriers to enable growth.
Investing in energy infrastructure to support new development.
Expanding the National Wealth Bank to better fund key growth sectors, including creative industries and defense.

Alistair acknowledged the challenges of balancing fiscal responsibility and NI rises with investment, but reinforced that growth remains the government’s top priority; with Hertfordshire well placed to benefit.

Successful town centres: a panel discussion

Chaired by Mayor Peter Taylor, attention then turned a panel discussion on the role of town centres in driving economic growth, led by:

Donna Nolan, Chief Executive of Watford Borough Council
Tom Pike, Deputy Chief Executive of Stevenage Borough Council
Kevin Cowin, Development Director at Mace Group

Donna and Tom shared their success stories on the importance of collaboration and the role the built environment can play in creating thriving town centres, highlighting the need for local authorities to align their ambitions with the private sector to deliver investor confidence. Cowin then shared his views on what the private sector will need to support local authorities on this mission and to help realise their growth ambitions.

A key takeaway was the importance of having a formal town centre strategy — shockingly, only 10% of town centres currently possess one. The panel stressed that a well-defined strategy can make all the difference between securing investment and stagnation.

Dates for your diary — a look ahead to future events

The meeting concluded with reflections and closing remarks from Mayor Peter Taylor, who praised the record attendance. He encouraged members to engage with the HIDB between meetings and announced the date of the next members meeting on September 16, 2025.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for HIDB’s future Lunch and Learn sessions:

18th March 11am-12pm: Join Meeting Place for a webinar which will focus on data centres. Alongside other panelists, we’ll hear from The Data Centre Alliance and Cllr Jeremy Newmark, Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, about the recent planning approval of DC01UK, which will be the one of the largest data centre campuses in Europe. Don’t forget to sign up here.
April: Delivering Biodiversity Net Gain
June: Planning Resilience in Hertfordshire
July: Joint Strategic Planning

For those attending UKREiiF in Leeds, members were also invited to attend an exclusive event at on Wednesday 21^st May, where HIDB will be sponsoring a panel discussion and private drinks reception hosted by Hertfordshire Futures — more updates to follow.

With a swathe of recent updates on planning reform, housing and infrastructure, the breadth of the discussion at March’s event underpinned how 2025 has the potential to be a year rich with opportunity. It further affirmed the importance of the HIDB members meetings in creating closer collaboration between private and public sectors to truly grasp the opportunity at hand. Tuck in!