Local plan consultation set to reopen

Residents are set to get another chance to have their say on Wyre Forest District Council’s Pre-Submission version of its Local Plan.

The authority is planning to reopen the consultation in September. During the last consultation in 2018 some technical points on some of the evidence base underpinning the Plan were raised by statutory consultees. The issues are being addressed and the Council will be looking for comments on the changes.

The Local Plan covers topics such as how many new houses are required and where they will go, where new employment area should be and what additional infrastructure, such as transport and schools, will be needed to support development up until 2036.

Anyone who previously submitted comments won’t need to do so again unless they want to add to them, withdraw them or make completely new comments.

Last year’s Local Plan Pre-Submission consultation received more than 1000 responses from more than 500 respondents across the district.

The consultation period is set to run from Monday 2 September 2019 to Monday 14 October 2019 with a drop-in session in Kidderminster and Stourport.

Councillor Fran Oborski, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Planning and Capital Investments, said: “One of the first things that my Cabinet colleagues and I have done following our appointment is to study the main responses to the pre-submission consultation that was undertaken in November and December last year.

“It became apparent when the Council received responses to the consultation that there are some important technical points which had been raised by statutory consultees, including Worcestershire County Council, and which need to be addressed. This includes issues to do with the transport modelling, the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and viability modelling, all of which are being revised.

“As a consequence, we need to undertake a further period of consultation. The revised timetable will be brought to Cabinet on Wednesday 19 June for approval and at its July meeting the Cabinet will be asked to approve the Local Plan documents for consultation. We will avoid the summer holiday period and therefore the consultation would take place for six weeks from Monday 2 September to Monday 14 October.”

Councillor Graham Ballinger, Leader of the Council, added: “We want to minimise the impact for people who replied to the consultation in 2018. If they don’t wish to change or add to their comments, their response will still be valid and will be considered by the Council before the Plan is submitted to the Secretary of State.

“The Progressive Alliance’s objective is to move forward the adoption of the Local Plan as soon as possible, so that we reduce the risk of “planning by appeal”. It is important to stress that we’re not expecting changes to the sites that are identified for development as a result of the revised transport modelling. In the autumn consultation, we will draw attention to any changes that are necessary as a result of the revised modelling or responses from statutory consultees so that local people can easily see what is different and can decide if they want to submit comments about those changes.”

Anyone wanting notification of the council’s consultations can sign up for ‘consultations and surveys’ email newsletters by visiting www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/subscribe.