Stratford District Council's Core Strategy gets approval

At Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Full Council meeting today, Monday 12 May a key planning document that will guide Stratford-on-Avon District Council's development for the next 17 years (from 2011 to 2031) has been approved for submission to Government.

Councillors approved the Stratford-on-Avon District Council Proposed Submission Core Strategy.  This document identifies the broad locations, scale and type of development and supporting infrastructure that will take place in the District as well as highlighting those areas which will be protected from future development. It also covers community issues such as quality of life, the environment, housing, education, community safety and the economy.

The proposals include:

• Planning for 10,800 new homes in Stratford-on-Avon District (an average of 540 a year), including 3,000 at Gaydon and Lightorne Health (with 2,500 dwellings to be built by 2031).
  
  
• An additional 35 hectares of employment land, plus 100 hectares of land to support the expansion of JLR at Gaydon.
  
  
• To improve the affordability of housing across the District, 35% of dwellings on eligible sites will have been provided as affordable homes.
  
  
• Maintaining the rural, historic and local distinctiveness of the District and protecting the Greenbelt and countryside.
  
  
• Maintaining the flood plain.
  
  
• Improving transport services and reducing traffic congestion.
  
  
• Ensuring new development is of high quality design.

All local councils must produce a Local Development Framework, which sets out proposals for the homes, offices and shops that must be built to meet local need. Sitting at the heart of the framework is the Core Strategy which proposes new planning policies and how the District Council will plan for future development up to 2031.

Preparing the Core Strategy has been a major undertaking for the District Council. The document has been developed through a number of consultation phases and is founded on a substantial amount of background evidence and research in conjunction with the Planning Inspectorate.

Before it is submitted to Government, the Core Strategy will be subject to a six week period of public consultation, where interested parties will be invited to comment on the soundness of the document. These final comments will be forwarded to the Government's independent inspector who will hold a public examination of the document before making a recommendation to the Council on whether the Core Strategy can be adopted.

Dave Nash, Policy Manager (Planning and Housing) for Stratford-on-Avon District Council says: “The Core Strategy is a hugely important document as ultimately it lays out the vision on how Stratford-on-Avon District could look in 2031. Residents, community groups and organisations took a lot of time submitting comments on the draft document and we have made changes to reflect those suggestions where possible. The Government inspector will now look at whether the strategy can progress and become the planning policy for the District."