|
Work on a new Local Plan for Warwick District remains a major focus for the Council and this note provides an update on the work that is currently going on.
The Council will consider the Draft Local Plan on 4 June 2012, with a final period of consultation in June and July. Following this we aim to submit out draft Local Plan to the Government in the Autumn followed by an examination in public in late 2013 or early 2014.
Since the last period of public consultation in June and July 2012, activity has focused on:
a) Analysing the 2012 Consultation Responses: we have been absorbing and analysing the large number of consultation responses. Some pertinent points have been raised through this consultation and all the results of this have been informally fedback to Councillors to help inform revisions to the proposals. The vast majority of the responses are available to view online. A full report on the public consultation, including how the Council is responding to the points raised will be prepared for the Council meeting in May.
b) Updating our evidence: we have updated key pieces of evidence and information (in many cases to take account of points that were raised during the consultation) including:
- Looking at the most up to date information on population (such as the census) and the economy to see whether that might affect the amount of new houses and employment land we need.
- Researching what impact the Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway proposals would have if it gets planning permission.
- Looking at up to date information on retail to help us think about what we need to do to support our town centres.
- Researching the level of need for sports facilities and playing pitches.
- Looking more closely at the capacity of roads and the transport network to cope with new development – adding to the work undertaken earlier in the year.
- Updating information about flooding and drainage.
As these pieces of research are completed they will be published on the website on our evidence base page.
Currently activity is focusing on taking all this in to account to develop revised proposals. This includes work on the following:
- Work with villages to support neighbourhood plans and to identify sites for development where growth is proposed .
- Work to finalise proposals for development sites.
- Work with infrastructure providers (such as County transport and education services) to ensure that the infrastructure required to support development is planned for.
- Work on developing policies for topics such as retail, sustainable buildings, transport, economy, housing and green belt and so on.
- Work to develop a Community Infrastructure Levy Scheme to provide a viable method of funding infrastructure requirements.
So it is busy time. We will keep you informed as and when things progress.
|