New Local Plan - Issues & Options (Regulation 18)

Introduction

1. Overview

1.1 Harborough District Council is preparing a new Local Plan and is holding a six-week public consultation on what it should contain. The consultation runs from 16 January to 27 February 2024.

1.2 This is the first stage of public consultation on the preparation of the new Harborough Local Plan. It seeks views on a range of planning issues and potential options for the future development of the District. Details on how to respond are available on the Harborough District Council website.

1.3 Your consultation responses and further work will inform the next version of the Local Plan which will contain more detail. The next version will also be subject to further public consultation.

1.4 Alongside this consultation the Council is carrying out a 'Call for Sites' which is an opportunity for landowners and site promoters to put forward potential development sites for consideration during preparation of the new Local Plan.

1.5 We have also published a Sustainability Appraisal of this Issues and Options consultation document. This is the first stage of the sustainability appraisal of our new plan and will be updated at each stage as the Local Plan progresses to ensure the potential social, environmental and economic effects of the plan are appropriately considered and inform the Local Plan. It is not a decision-making document.

Sustainability Appraisal

What is a Local Plan?

1.6 Local planning authorities are required to prepare a local plan to deliver sustainable development in their area. The Local Plan will set out the strategy for the amount, location and design of new built development (such as homes, schools, employment, retail etc.) whilst helping to protect the countryside, important green spaces and our built and natural heritage from inappropriate development.

1.7 Preparation of the new Local Plan provides an opportunity for local people and other interested parties to help shape what the District will look like over at least the next 15 years.

1.8 Once adopted the new Local Plan will be used to make development decisions and determine planning applications.

Why are we doing a new Local Plan?

1.9 The Council needs to ensure its Local Plan remains up to date so it can positively manage built development and protect areas from inappropriate development. The current Local Plan was adopted in April 2019. Although it is considered to be up to date, it takes a number of years to prepare and adopt a new Local Plan so the Council is preparing a new one to ensure it remains up to date in future.

1.10 The Local Plan 2019 also contains policies requiring it to be updated in certain circumstances. One of these is linked to the publication of the Leicester City Local Plan which was published in January 2023. This means we must update the Local Plan to set timescales. A new local plan is beneficial to provide long term certainty, allocate development in sustainable locations and protect important natural spaces and built heritage.

Figure 1 Timeline of the new Local Plan

What is the timetable for preparing the Local Plan?

1.11 The Council's timetable for Local Plan preparation is set out in its Local Development Scheme. The timetable is as set out below. For clarity, this current consultation is the 'Issues and Options Consultation (Regulation 18)' the timetable and is the first public consultation on the preparation of the new Local Plan.

Local Development Scheme (November 2023): New Local Plan preparation timetable

Figure 2 Local development scheme timetable

1.12 The timetable may be updated and published on the Council's website as Local Plan preparation is progressed to reflect the latest position.