Plan for Huntingdonshire’s development given the green light
HEADQUARTERS: Huntingdonshire District Council's Pathfinder House - Credit: Archant
A new local plan which will help shape the face of Huntingdonshire until 2036 has cleared a major hurdle.
The plan, which identifies key areas of land for the development of new homes, jobs and services across the district, was approved by a full meeting of Huntingdonshire District Council.
Councillor Ryan Fuller, deputy leader and executive member for housing and planning, said: “Local residents should be at the heart of the planning system and our communities should be able to play an active role in shaping their area.
“To enable this, Huntingdonshire needs an up to date local plan to set out local planning priorities, identify how land is used and determine what should be built where.”
Cllr Fuller said: “Our plan has been shaped by our communities through the many comments received on earlier versions during its development.
“The plan ensures that Huntingdonshire continues to be able to determine its own future and meets the current and future needs of all in our communities in the right places.”
He added: “It also recognises that the delivery of the necessary infrastructure alongside this growth is vitally important to all our communities.”
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The plan is now being published for a seven week period during which interested parties will be able to comment on its legal compliance and “soundness”.
Once this is complete the plan, together with comments received, will then be submitted to the Secretary of State, probably by the end of March, and will pass in to the hands of the Planning Inspectorate.
An examination of the plan will take place under a planning inspector, where those who made comments during the seven week period will be able to speak, and a final report will be issued.
The plan is expected to be adopted finally in 2019.
It has taken years to compile the plan which has involved a number of public consultations and, once in place, planning applications will be set against its policies.
At the council meeting Cllr Barry Chapman raised concerns about population figures available through links in the report, which he said were wrong and Cllr Jason Ablewhite emphasised the need to get infrastructure right.
