Over 140 responses to Calderdale’s draft Local Plan have now been registered with the Council as the representation period enters its final days.
The final draft of the Local Plan was published on the Council’s website on Friday 10 August 2018, marking the start of a six week period during which members of the public, businesses and other organisations may make formal representations on the proposals.
The representation period will close at 5pm on Monday 24 September 2018.
The ambitious draft Local Plan identifies development areas for economic growth, and sites for around 9,500 new homes, over the next 15 years. This will support the Council’s Vision 2024 for the borough as a place where talent and enterprise can thrive, a place which is kind and resilient and which is distinctive, a great place to visit, but most importantly, a place to live a larger life.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Environment, Cllr Daniel Sutherland said:
“The representation period is a technical and legal consultation, so it’s different to the previous public consultations on the draft Local Plan because people are only able to comment on three very specific aspects.
“They need to tell us if they think the draft Local Plan is compliant with current legislation; if the plans are ‘sound’ and if they comply with the Duty to Co-operate.
“To help people make a representation we’ve created a short film which provides full instructions and guidance. You can find this on the Local Plan page of our website.”
The draft Local Plan can also be viewed at Calderdale libraries, and officers will be available from 9am until 1pm at Halifax Customer First(external link) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Once the representation period closes, the Council will not be able to amend the draft Local Plan after reviewing the representations made, but they will be included with the draft Local Plan when it is submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector.
The draft Local Plan has already been through two full public consultations, in 2015/16 and again in 2017, which has influenced the proposals as they have developed.
The most recent consultation resulted in over 8,000 individual comments from local people across the borough. These have all been carefully analysed and considered by the Council before the final draft of the Local Plan was prepared.
The Council is following a timetable for publication which was agreed with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which will see the draft Local Plan, including the representations from the public, submitted in December 2018.
Calderdale’s Local Plan will then be examined in detail by an independent Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. The examination could last around nine months.
Adoption of the plan by Calderdale Council, following receipt of the Inspector’s Report, is expected to be confirmed by the end of 2019.