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Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM)

South East Region (SER) (Plus 8 others)

Regional Communities Plan The Government’s vision for us. It sets out strategic growth options

Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) This will be a legally binding document and development Plans(?), with Local Development Frameworks (see below) will have to be in “general conformity”with them. So if the RSS decides that our region is to be designated as (say) a Business Growth Zone we have a big problem. It will be difficult to argueback up the line from the local leevel once an RSS has been adopted. Also the RSS will have sub-sets called sub-regional plans for all manner of topics, eg housing.

Local development Framework (LDF) Instead of Local Plans, District and Unitary Councils have a Local Development Framework. The Framework is intended to be a less formal, more flexible plan and will have three parts:

1.*Local Strategic policy for our area* This document will have a map which will plot major planning designations like Green Belt and major development sites. The policy will be brief and much less detailed than Current Local Plans. It will set out where the Action Plans will take place.

                            1. Action Plan This will a detailed description of the way specific areas will develop. They are supposed to be prepared for areas of change like town centres or market towns.

                            1. Statement of Community Involvement Statements of community Involvement will lay out how our local council should consult the public in plan making and development control. We don’t know what sort of standards these document will contain. In theory local people could have a say in the preparation of this document. The contents of SCI will be subject to a public inquiry.

Local Community Strategies Local Community Strategies were introduced under the Local Government Act 2000. These strategies are supposed set out a long-term vision for our area. They are important because Local Development Frameworks are meant to be based on the objectives of the Local Community Strategy. However, other bodies such as Local Strategic Partnerships also have a big input to this/these(?) document(s).