RESIDENTS’ LAST CHANCE TO BE HEARD ON CROYDON’S 20-YEAR PLAN
Residents are being invited to get involved and give their views to help Croydon achieve its growth and development vision over the next two decades.
The Croydon Local Plan sets out how the borough can thrive and grow to meet future increasing demand. It details how many new homes the borough needs, how the infrastructure such as roads, schools and medical facilities need to change, and what jobs and employment opportunities are required to support local communities in each of the borough’s 16 places.
Last winter’s consultation saw over 8,000 people respond, helping planners to shape the plan to its proposed submission stage.
From Monday 5 September to Monday 17 October, residents can make any final comments on the proposed submission. All responses will be sent to the Planning Inspectorate to be considered as part of the public examination of the plan. The final plan will then go before the council in the winter for approval for submission to the secretary of state.
The local plan documents can be viewed at www.croydon.gov.uk/localplanone and www.croydon.gov.uk/localplantwo
Alternatively, the documents can be viewed at all Croydon libraries, and at Access Croydon, in Bernard Weatherill House.
Residents can have their say on the proposed submission by visiting the council’s Get Involved site atwww.getinvolved.croydon.gov.uk
The Croydon Local Plan: (Proposed Submission) is being published for a six-week period. During this time, the council is inviting comments on the draft policies and proposals that are presented in the document.
All duly made comments received will be forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration. To be duly made the comments must:
a. be received by the council on or before 17 October 2016;
b. include a name and either an e-mail or postal address, which must be legible;
c. not contain offensive or racist language; and
d. be related to the draft policies and proposals, or a tracked change in the Strategic Policies – Partial Review.
The publication is not a consultation as the council is not allowed under the local plan regulations to make changes to the local plan prior to examination. Only the independent planning inspector can make changes to the local plan after publication.
In particular, the comments should focus on the legal compliance and the four tests of soundness (whether participants feel that the plan has been positively prepared, justified, effective or consistent with national policy, and include reasons why they so feel). (Source: Croydon council press release)
