AS you may be aware, over the last few years Lancaster City Council has been preparing a Local Plan for the Lancaster district.

On completion this document will set out how planning applications should be decided, identify areas for development and show which areas of the district should be protected for their environmental, social and/or economic value.

While there is still some way to go, significant progress has been made and we have reached the point where we once again need the help of the community.

The Government empowers local communities to plan for the needs of existing and future generations and make choices about where new development should be located.

Along with this power however is the responsibility to make sure that the local community, through its council, fully addresses the development needs which its own local research demonstrates to be necessary.

An independent consultant has said that over the next 20 years the Lancaster district needs an additional 12,000 new homes due to an increasing population and growing economy.

The council now has to find new sites to meet this need for new homes and the accompanying infrastructure.

An eight week consultation will be held from 2 June to 31 July to find out what people think of five potential approaches to identify these sites, which include the following options:

1. A Single Large Urban extension

2. Reviewing the Green belt

3. Distributed to settlements throughout the district

4. Significant expansion of a few existing rural settlements

5. Creation of a new settlement

You may also like to suggest other approaches to finding sites for large numbers of new homes. A number of ‘drop in’ events will be held across the district for people to find out more about the options and to have your say on which you feel would be most appropriate.

The results will be used to inform the next stage, which will be to consult on the best approach or approaches with more detailed proposals.

This may happen in early 2015, (subject to timescales and council approval) and will ultimately lead to the preparation of a Lands Allocation Document (LAD). The LAD is just one of the documents that make up the new Local Plan and others include:

• Development management policies

• Morecambe Area Action Plan

• Arnside and Silverdale AONB Plan

• Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Plan

If you would like to receive email updates on upcoming consultations, Local Plan documents and other planning policy matters, please email planningpolicy@lancaster.gov.uk or call the Planning and Housing Policy Team on 01524 582383.

May 2014

What is the local plan?

The Local Plan for the Lancaster district will set out how planning applications should be decided, identify areas for development and areas which should be protected from development because of their environmental, social and/or economic value.

It will be made up of five documents:

• Land Allocations - Including a policies map that shows sites that will be developed or protected from development.

• Development Management - Provides the policies which are used to consider planning applications.

• Morecambe Area Action Plan - Describes actions to support regeneration in the central area of Morecambe.

• Arnside and Silverdale AONB Plan - Provides additional policies that consider how to plan in an area with a high landscape value.

• Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Plan - Policies that consider in detail how to meet the needs for Gypsies and Travellers sites.

How does the council know what it needs to plan for?

The council must follow the advice on planning given by the government. The government’s guidance is in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

This says that councils should positively seek opportunities to meet the development needs of their area.

The council continuously gathers information and also monitors the development that takes place in order to identify the development needs of the area.

The council must make sure that there are enough opportunities to provide for new homes, jobs, education and shopping to meet the needs of a growing population.

To work out how many homes are needed in the district the council prepares a housing requirements study.

This looks at population projections and other information such as expected levels of job creation to calculate how many new homes will be needed in the district for at least 15 years after the date that the local plan will be completed.

The housing requirements study is called a Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA). This can be found on the council’s website.

The council then calculates how many new homes can be built on sites that already have planning permission and then uses the local plan to identify enough new sites, in addition to those that we already know about, to satisfy the total requirement for new housing.

The council publishes an assessment of the sites it already knows about in a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA). This can be found on the council’s website at www.lancaster.gov.uk/shlaa.

Much the same happens with working out how much land is needed for employment, shopping and recreation.

Who approves the Local Plan documents?

Preparing the Local Plan is the responsibility of the city council. Local Plan documents take a number of years to prepare.

During preparation the council’s officers engage with the community and consult on the emerging plan.

Whilst it is your council’s responsibility to prepare the Local Plan, there is also independent examination.

When the council is content that a plan document is complete it publishes the document and anyone can then comment on the soundness of the published plan.

The council then sends the published plan document, the supporting evidence and all the comments and representations it has received to the Planning Inspectorate, who appoint an inspector to carry out an independent examination.

This involves local hearing sessions when the inspector invites some of the people who have made representations to a discussion session.

After these hearing sessions the inspector sends a report to the council stating whether or not the plan has been properly prepared.

If the inspector is happy that the plan is sound then the council can adopt the plan, usually with some changes that he/she has recommended.

What is the timescale?

The current plan requires updating and the council has been reviewing the evidence base and developing new local plan documents since 2010.

We have made good progress on preparing the five documents which will form the new Local Plan and will continue to work on key parts, including the Land Allocations, during 2014.

What have we done so far?

• Reviewed a wide range of evidence including a new housing requirements study, a new housing land supply report and a retailing report.

• Sent the Development Management (planning policies) document and the Morecambe Area Action Plan document to the Planning Inspectorate and had the local hearing sessions in April. The council is consulting on the proposed changes to these documents and then await the inspector’s decision in the summer on whether the documents are sound and can be adopted.

• Developed and, at the end of 2012, consulted on a draft Land Allocations document. However, this

draft must be revised to take account of the need for the many more new homes needed following completion of the new housing requirements report, so further consultation is needed. A consultation is planned for this summer to help with the Land Allocations document, details of the drop-in events are provided on page 4.

• Lots of consultation has already taken place, including discussion sessions, planning for real events, and many drop-in events in towns and villages. We have taken account of the feedback from people and organisations in writing the documents.

• Many people and organisations have joined our

Local Plan contacts list and receive emails that let them know when a consultation is happening or an important stage has been reached.

What about the Land Allocations Document and the sites for development?

The Land Allocations Document needs to be based on up-to-date evidence.

We updated our evidence, which helps to inform the Local Plan documents, including:

• A new Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA): www.lancaster.gov.uk/housingdata

• A review of the supply of land for housing land (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment or SHLAA): www.lancaster.gov.uk/housingdata

• Lancaster District Retail Strategy: www.lancaster.gov.uk/retaildata

• Employment Land Review and Economic Strategy (to be published in May 2014): www.lancaster.gov.uk/employmentdata

Land Allocations Consultation Drop-in Events

The council’s officers will be on hand to talk about the new local plan evidence and the five strategic options to meet the new housing requirements at a series of drop-in venues throughout the district:

Date Venue TimeTuesday 3 June Morecambe Arndale Centre 10am to 3pmWednesday 4 June Carnforth Tesco 2pm to 7pmThursday 5 June Heysham Library 2pm to 6pmTuesday 10 June Ellel Village Hall (Galgate) 2pm to 7pmWednesday 11 June Barton Road Community Centre (Scotforth) 2pm to 7pmThursday 12 June Dolphinholme Village Hall 2pm to 7pmSaturday 14 June St Nicholas Arcades 10am to 3pmTuesday 17 June Torrisholme Methodist Church 2pm to 6pm Wednesday 18 June Bolton-le-Sands Village Hall 12.30pm to 4.30pmThursday 19 June The Centre (Halton) 3.15pm to 6.45pmTuesday 24 June Victoria Institute (Caton) 2pm to 7pm

Wednesday 25 June Nether Kellet Village Hall 2pm to 6.30pmThursday 26 June Hornby Institute 2pm to 7pmFriday 27 June Fraser Hall (Cowan Bridge) 2pm to 7pm

Arnside and Silverdale and Forest of Bowland ANOB update

Management Plans have been approved for the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Forest of Bowland AONB. These plans cover the period 2014-2019 and can be found at:

• www.arnsidesilverdaleaonb.org.uk• www.forestofbowland.com/mgmtplanreview

A new Development Plan Document will also be prepared jointly with South Lakeland District Council for the Arnside

and Silverdale AONB during 2014-15.

Gypsy, and Traveller Accommodation Assessment update

The council must consider the requirements of all parts of its community and ensure that any identified needs can be appropriately met. The accommodation requirements of travellers must be met in a way which promotes a peaceful and integrated co-existence with settled communities and

ensures a high level of social, economic and environmental sustainability.To achieve these aims the council monitors the needs of its travelling communities through the production of a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA). This work was undertaken throughout the last year and is available at: www.lancaster.gov.uk/gypsy-traveller

The findings of the research indicate that the Gypsy Traveller population is continuing to grow and that there are a number of sites which no longer provide accommodation to Gypsies and should be replaced.

The research therefore indicates that there will be a requirement for the district to identify new traveller sites.This work will be undertaken in a forthcoming Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Development Plan Document which will be published in draft by the end of 2014.

Statement of Community Involvement

We have recently updated our Statement of Community Involvement which outlines how people can get involved in planning applications and planning policy and can be found at www.lancaster.gov.uk/sci.