Development Choices Consultation

In March we started major public consultation with Communities, Service Providers and Stakeholders on the Strategy and Core Policies Development Plan Document which will provide direction to future development choices within Breckland.

To support this consultation we prepared a Strategy and Development Choices booklet.   View our on-line Consultation Pages where you can view the document and the comments made.

Paper copies of the booklet are available.  Please contact us on (01362) 656873 or e-mail us at planningpolicyteam@breckland.gov.uk to request a copy and we will post one to you free of charge.

What were we consulting on?

The principle content of the consultation was around the ‘Development Choices’ facing the district over the next 15 years.  Importantly, the consultation did not re-open the door on a number of issues this authority had previously consulted on in August 2005 and November/December 2005 as part of the LDF process.  There are a number of policy areas, particularly in relation to Development Control policies where the evidence remains robust and there are no new reasonable options to consult on.

The key issues that were consulted on included:

• Scale and broad location of development (housing, jobs and retail) over the next 15 years
• Ensuring a continuous 15 year housing land supply, looking beyond 2021
• Percentages and thresholds of affordable housing on new schemes
• The density of new housing development
• Climate Change – how we can reduce the impact of new development on and from future climate change
• Accessibility and mobility; how we get around Breckland and access services
• Landscape and the environment; Inclusion of this topic reflects the emerging detail of the Landscape Character Assessment
• Infrastructure and developer contributions
• Parking Standards; particularly how much parking space we allow on new housing developments
• Renewable Energy; how we provide more energy from renewable sources

Evidence

We have gathered a considerable amount of evidence to support the contents in the consultation booklet.  View our publications page where you can see the various reports and documents we have used to identify the issues and options.  In particular, we would encourage people to look at the most recent Annual Monitoring Report 2005/06 which sets out how the planning system is performing in Breckland (i.e. number of new homes, employment land developed, housing trajectory etc)

If you want any further information on the LDF or the forthcoming events please contact us on (01362) 656873 or e-mail us at planningpolicyteam@breckland.gov.uk

Back to top