Latest News June 2013 - Council To Consult on New Documents
Take the opportunity to have your say!
The Council is preparing three new documents to guide development across the district:
- Retail and Town Centre Local Plan;
- Leisure, Recreation and Open Space Local Plan;
- Community Infrastructure Levy.
The new local plan documents will update and replace existing policies relating to retail and town centre uses, such as offices, cultural and arts facilities, hotels, cinemas, sports facilities, as well as outdoor leisure and recreation activities, and provision and protection of open space. The Community Infrastructure Levy will establish a charge on development, where appropriate, to help fund the essential infrastructure needed to support new development, such as road improvements.
We are undertaking early engagement on the Retail and Town Centre and the Leisure, Recreation and Open Space Local Plans to find out your views on the issues that should be covered and the options for dealing with them. The documents will be available for comment between Thursday 20th June to Wednesday 31st July (see links below).
Local Development Framework Documents
The Government has introduced the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 which requires the Council to produce a new-style local planning framework to replace its Unitary Development Plan (UDP).
The Council adopted its current UDP First Alteration in January 2003 to guide and control development and protect the environment.
Refer to Secretary of State's Direction under Paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 8 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, to see the UDP policies and proposals that apply after 27 September 2007. A copy of the Direction is available in 'Downloads'.
Most parts of the saved UDP have now been replaced by new LDF documents. A copy of the saved UDP policies and reasoned justification is available in `Downloads'.
The Council is preparing the LDF in the context of national and local policies, including the Wakefield District Partnership's Community Strategy.
The Community Strategy sets out an agreed vision of what the district should be like in 25 years time. The LDF provides the planning strategy for delivering the vision and promoting sustainable development. Consulting with local communities and groups forms an important part of preparing the LDF.
The Wakefield Metropolitan District Unitary Development Plan First Alterations can be viewed by following the links under 'Features'.
The links below provide further information about the process of preparing the LDF. All the LDF documents subject to consultation can be viewed online (see 'Related Links'). Commenting online is the preferred method for all consultation.
The Council adopted the Core Strategy and Development Policies documents on 15 April 2009, the Central Wakefield Area Action Plan on 17 June 2009, Waste document on 9 December 2009, and the Site Specific Policies Local Plan on 12 September 2012. These documents now form part of the statutory development plan for Wakefield District and replace many of the policies in the UDP.
Copies of the documents, the Planning Inspector's Reports and information relating to the adoption of the documents can be found by following the link below. A schedule of current policies is also available for information (see `Downloads')
The Council has also adopted a series of planning guidance doucments to supplement policies in the LDF (see 'Related Links').
