Local Development Framework - Core Strategy

The District Council is currently finalising its Core Spatial Strategy - one of the key Development Plan documents that forms the Local Development Framework.

The Core Strategy will have regard to other strategies produced by the District Council, and derive its vision from the Sustainable Community Strategies produced by the Harborough District Local Strategic Partnership and Leicestershire Together.

The Core Strategy will set out the vision and strategic objectives for the spatial development of the District. This includes the amount of and broad locations for future housing and employment use. Policies within this document will apply to the whole of the local authority area and are not site-specific. Once adopted, all other Development Plan Documents must be in conformity with the Core Strategy. Site-specific policies (for example housing allocations) will be set out in future Development Plan Documents, in conformity with the broad locations set out in the Core Strategy.

The Core Strategy document will have regard to national guidance in Planning Policy Statements (produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government) and be in general conformity with the Regional Spatial Strategy (produced by the Regional Planning Body).

During June and July we consulted on Alternative Options for policies to be contained in the document.  The Options consultation closed on July 20th.  You can read the consultation document here. All responses received during the consultation period have been collated within the Report of Consultation. 

The Core Strategy - Towards a Final Draft document has now been completed. This sets out a potential strategy which the Council believes will promote the most sustainable options for growth within the District. The document compasses the alternative options considered, the response from the community, the findings from relevant evidence documents and the results of the sustainability appraisal of the alternative options. A copy of the document can be viewed here, and an accompanying summary for settlements here.  

The Submission Draft Plan will then be written and we expect to publish this for six weeks formal public consultation in summer 2010, prior to submitting the Core Strategy to the Secretary of State in autumn 2010.  This represents a slight delay on the previously published Core Strategy timetable. This is to allow for additional transportation evidence to be completed.

A Planning Inspector will be appointed to assess whether the Strategy is "sound" and following a public examination, will submit a binding report to the Council.  The Strategy is scheduled to be adopted in 2011.