Residents, businesses, community groups, voluntary organisations and other agencies will have the opportunity to preview the Harrogate district’s draft Local Plan this October, before the launch of the six week public consultation in November.
On Tuesday 25 October 2016 between 9am and 5pm, the council will be holding a Local Plan Pop-Up Café at the Harrogate International Centre, Kings Road, Harrogate (Entrance 3). The Local Plan will set out how the district should grow and develop between now and 2035 and will provide a firm basis for the consideration of planning applications. The event will provide the opportunity to preview the sites and policies and talk to officers who will be able to answer questions and explain how anyone who wishes to comment on the draft Local Plan can register their views.
The six-week public consultation on the draft Local Plan, will begin on Friday 11 November and finish on Friday 23 December.
During July and August 2015, the council carried out a district wide consultation as part of its Issues and Options phase, an early stage in the plan’s production.
The public consultation, sought views and ideas on what the plan should achieve, how many new homes and jobs should be planned for and where they should be distributed across the district, what strategic policies would be required to deliver growth, and what potential new policies could be introduced for managing development.
In November 2015, further consultation was undertaken to consider the detailed wording of policies to manage development.
Comments received during both consultations were then considered and have helped shape the content of the draft Local Plan.
On Wednesday 31 August 2016, the council’s District Development Committee met to discuss the draft policies for inclusion within the plan. A further meeting will take place on Tuesday 4 October to consider draft allocations for homes, jobs and local green space, development limits and associated policy wording.
As part of the latest consultation all relevant documents will be available to view on the council’s website, in the council’s Crescent Gardens offices in Harrogate, at Ripon Town Hall, Knaresborough House, and in the district’s libraries.
The council will also be holding 10 public exhibitions across the district during the first three weeks of the consultation providing the opportunity to view consultation materials and discuss ideas with council planning officers.
Councillor Rebecca Burnett is Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainable Transport. She said:
The Local Plan is an extremely important document detailing how we can meet the district’s needs for homes and jobs in the future.
The plan provides details of policies to guide developments, sites for new homes and jobs, options for new settlements for the district, allocations for local green space and development limits for settlements.
We have already consulted with the district to get people’s views on a variety of issues such as where they think the focus on growth should be. We have considered these views and many have been incorporated within our draft local plan.
This latest consultation will give people the opportunity to consider the result of this work. This is the final opportunity for the community to let us know their views on the draft Local Plan before it is taken to Full Council prior to formal publication consultation in July 2017.
This is an important document which will help shape the future of our district and I would encourage everyone to take part in this consultation, so that we have a Local Plan which is right for the district.
The public consultation will be available to complete on the council’s website from Friday 11 November at: http://consult.harrogate.gov.uk
Completed responses can also be sent to planningpolicy@harrogate.gov.uk or posted to Local Plan Consultation, Directorate Support, Springfield House, Kings Road, Harrogate, HG1 5NX.
People are encouraged to sign up to the Local Plan consultation portal in readiness for the start of the consultation and to receive updates on the plans preparation at: http://consult.harrogate.gov.uk
The closing date for responding to the consultation is 4.30pm on Friday 23 December 2016.
