Local Development Framework.

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires the Borough Planning Authority to prepare a Local Development Framework to replace the existing Borough Local Plan over the next three years. Under the new Planning Act, the Local Planning Authority has a duty to prepare a series of documents that will form the Borough LDF. This folder of documents can consist of:

Local Development Documents (LDDs);
A Statement of Community Involvement (SCI);
A Local Development Scheme (LDS); and,
Annual Monitoring Reports (AMRs).
As part of the preparation of the Local Development Framework, the Borough Council will be producing a number of documents for public consultation.
All LDDs Must be subject to sustainability Appraisals.

Local Development Documents

Local Development Documents can consist of Development Plan Documents (DPDs), which are subject to independent examination and have the weight of development plan status, and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), which are not subject to independent examination and do not have development plan status.

Priority will be given to preparing the Core Strategy DPD and the Major Allocations DPD. In addition, some priority will be given to the Development Control Policies DPD although the preparation of this document will not start immediately.

The Key Issues Paper, alongside the Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report was published in July 2005.

The Council has adopted the Residential Extensions Supplementary Planning Document on 24th February 2006.

The Alternative Options Report was published in August 2006.

The Major Allocations Search Sequence and Detailed Assessment Approach was published in October 2006.

The Borough Council's Cabinet approved the Open Space Needs Assessment for publication on 21st June 2007.

In July 2007, the Core Strategy Preferred Options, Major Allocations Alternative Options, Draft Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document, and Incorporating Renewable Energy into Development guide were published.

In March 2008, the Draft Windlestone Hall Supplementary Planning Document and LDF Contextual Indicators were published.

In October 2008, the Spennymoor Town Centre Area Action Plan Public Participation (Issues and Options) document was published.

Statement of Community Involvement

The Statement of Community Involvement sets out how the Council intends to involve interested parties and the local community in the planning process. Once this is adopted, the Statement of Community Involvement will help to ensure a transparent and open planning process, which enjoys the support of the community and involves local people in planning the future of their communities.

The draft Statement of Community Involvement was available for public consultation in April and May 2005. The submission draft was published in September 2005.  The Statement of Community Involvement was adopted in June 2006.

Local Development Scheme

The Local Development Scheme will inform the community how the Council will develop the Local Development Framework over the next three years. The Local Development Scheme serves two distinct purposes:

i. it provides the starting point for the local community to find out what the Council's planning policies are for the area in which they live, as it will set out the current documents which form the development plan for planning of the area; and,

ii. it sets out the programme for the preparation of Local Development Documents over the three-year period, including timetables that will inform the community when the various stages in the preparation of any particular Local Development Document will be carried out.

The Local Development Scheme was approved by Government Office for the North East on 1 April 2005.

Annual Monitoring Reports

The Borough Council has a duty to prepare Annual Monitoring Reports to assess the implementation of the Local Development Scheme, and the extent to which policies in Local Development Documents are being achieved. The Office for the Deputy Prime Minister will be issuing how this monitoring should take place. Once this has been published, we will produce a Monitoring Report in accordance with this guidance.

For further information about the Local Development Framework preparation, please contact either:

Chris Myers
Forward Planning Manager
cmyers@sedgefield.gov.uk

Michelle Robinson
Senior Planning Policy Officer
michellerobinson@sedgefield.gov.uk

Tom Bennett
Planning Officer
tbennett@sedgefield.gov.uk