New Local Plan ‘ready for examination’

Harborough District Council’s Executive made the recommendation to Council at an extraordinary meeting on 15 February 2018.

One adopted, the new Local Plan will set out planning policies in the Harborough district up to 2031. It will make sure development meets strategic priorities for housing, employment, community facilities, transport and other infrastructure needed to support development.

Councillor Phil King, Harborough District Council’s portfolio holder for Planning, Housing, Economic Development and Regeneration, said: “The new Local Plan is now at an advanced stage. This is the culmination of a huge amount of work, backed by a wealth of supporting information. I’d like to thank residents, council officers, and councillors who have helped us reach this important stage.”

In September 2017, a public consultation on the ‘soundness’ of the proposed Local Plan saw more than 2,000 representations received, from 430 individuals or organisations.

It was considered that those responses received from the public did not raise any issues of soundness that cannot be resolved during the Local Plan Examination. As such a recommendation could be made to Council that the Local Plan be submitted to Government.

The final decision on whether to submit the new Local Plan to Government will be made by Full Council on 5 March 2018. If Council decides to submit the Harborough Local Plan, this will be officially sent to the Government before the end of March 2018. The Planning Inspector may hold a number of hearing sessions to consider the Local Plan further, before preparing their report into the ‘soundness’ of the Local Plan.

The Local Plan is expected to be finalised and ‘adopted’ before the end of 2018.