Peoples Republic of South Devon» The home front

The home front

April 21st, 2006

Here we are, kicking up our heels, in a bit of sulk admittedly, thinking no-one cares for the environment but us. Then along comes a reply from one of the South Devon councils (not any of the builders mind) addressing some of our concerns about house building, sustainability and such like. Kudos Teignbridge council

The Principal Planner (Policy and Strategy) - if only I had parenthesis in my job title - writes:

The issues you raise about the means to reduce the environmental impact of housing are amongst many matters that relate to sustainable development and sustainable communities. The Council is addressing these matters for example through the strategy, objectives, policies and proposals in the emerging Teignbridge Local Development Framework.

There are needs to be met in providing homes, jobs, and accessible public services for the long term future as well as protecting and enhancing the environment. The matters are complex, and challenging. Because of this the main consultation reports and plans which are part of the Local Development Framework don’t always make for an easy read. But the issues are important for the quality of life for people now living or working in Teignbridge and for generations to come. The Council is facing those issues and working with communities and stakeholders to find ways to address the issues.

The Local Development Framework

The LDF is the new style of plan -making. The law requires the Council to undertake a somewhat complicated process of stages of plan-making and consultation with the LDF split into a number of plans which follow different timetables of plan making. This new plan-making process is a golden opportunity for communities, groups and individuals to get involved with planning for the future of Teignbridge. The emerging plans will be covering the period to 2016.

What’s happened to date?

Teignbridge has already consulted the public on broad issues and potential development sites at the first LDF consultation stage (in 4 documents at their Issues and Alternative Options stage) which we undertook last summer. We had responses back from about 5,000 respondents, with over 100,000 comments ranging from broad policy and strategy to more detailed site matters.

What’s happening now?

Since then the District Council has produced two “Preferred Options” reports on

1) Core Strategy (with the broad strategy, vision and objectives and core policies)

2) Development Control and Non-Strategic policies

These reports are now out for public consultation until 9.00am 22nd May 2006 (this is the Preferred Options Consultation stage).

Why should we get involved?

The LDF documents will provide the starting point for assessing future planning applications for development. They will also provide the local policy context for future plans for regeneration, the development of local community strategies, and for public investment in communities. Core strategy will set the context for other plans produced through the LDF. Getting involved by reading the leaflets, consultation documents, or by commenting on documents or working with others in community groups to develop your responses to later stage of plan making will help to inform and shape the plans. Please note that the main Development Plan Documents will be subjected to a Public Inquiry, and the recommendations of the Inspectors who hold those Inquiries will be binding on the Council (the Council will have to adopt the plan in the way the Inspector recommends).

What can we do now?

You and your readers might find it helpful to have a look at the Preferred Options Reports. These documents contain policies towards the environment, the economy, communities, housing and transport, as well as the strategy towards the distribution of growth and the approach to settlements and centres. They include policies towards the issues you raise in your e-mail.

Viewing the documents

The web-link below provides electronic access to the documents. In addition there are back ground reports including the sustainability appraisals of these 2 documents.

http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4809 Core Strategy Main Report, maps, sustainability report and related notices

http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4814 Development Control and Non-Strategic policies Main Report, maps, sustainability report and related notices

http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4803 - introductory web page on current preferred Options

http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4804 - links to background reports

http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1574 - LDF - home page

The documents are also available for viewing at our Offices at Forde House, Newton Abbot, and in local libraries in Teignbridge, and at Torbay Central Library and at Exeter Central and Exeter St Thomas library.

Is there a short summary of these reports?

There are 2 short, free leaflets which are available at these locations or can be sent on request. These give a flavour of the content of the reports.

The leaflets can also be accessed from the first two weblinks - but please note they are large pdf files (2.9Mb and 2.0Mb ).

Please note

The LDF policies are designed to work with each other - rather than be ‘free-standing’ . So the approaches to reducing the environmental impact of housing are to be found in the more general policies regarding sustainable development principles -CS13, and quality design - CS15, and renewable energy and energy efficiency - DC 1. Several other policies are also designed to reduce the impact of housing development - for example policies on making best use of land, on amenity, and on pollution. in particular, greater self-sufficiency of settlements with a better balance of jobs to housing, and concentration in urban areas should reduce the need to travel to access jobs and services and so reduce the use of non-renewable energy and reduce CO2 emissions and other pollutants, to the benefit of the global and local environment.

The Sustainability Appraisals of the 2 reports highlighted the need for additional focus on sustainable construction methods. The Council will be considering how to incorporate this within the forthcoming Submission Development Plan Documents.

More detailed guidance on the implementation of policies on design and on renewable energy and energy efficiency is likely to be developed in future Supplementary Planning Documents.

Future plan-making stages

Please note, the Council will be consulting the public again in October 2006 on the 3rd stage consultation for Core Strategy and for the Development Control and Non-Strategic policies (as “Submission Development Plan Documents“).

This will then be followed by the second stage “Preferred Options” consultation on two plans dealing with sites (the Newton Abbot Sub-Regional Centre Area Action Plan; and the Site Specific Allocations and Policies Development Plan Document - which relates to the remainder of Teignbridge (outside the National Park).

The information set out above is lengthy, but is necessary to ensure that you and your readers are aware of the processes that are now underway, and the rights that individuals and groups have to be involved in plannning for the future of Teignbridge.

Random Posts:

If you liked this story, you could buy us a coffee

Entry Filed under: Environment, Society

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed