Residents will have the chance to have their say on the next phase of Royal Borough Local Plan proposals in early 2015 – the last major opportunity to make comments before the council finalises the plan.
Earlier this year residents’ views were sought on a wide range of emerging planning policies, including the merits of releasing carefully selected areas from Green Belt on the edge of existing settlements, and almost a thousand people responded with more than five thousand comments.
The council must now decide whether to take any sites from within these areas and propose their release from the Green Belt so that they can be available for development.
If the council decides to do so then those proposals will be the main focus of the 2015 consultation. Views will also be sought on significant changes to any other emerging policy and on any new proposals to emerge from this year’s consultation.
The 2015 consultation is later than previously anticipated, said Cllr MJ Saunders, cabinet member for planning and property, because of two significant changes to the way the plan is being prepared: “First, after taking independent professional advice, we have embarked on a thorough and challenging assessment of the land we can make available to meet our need for new development over the next 15 years. This is crucial to help us identify and demonstrate that we have produced the most appropriate strategy for our borough.
“Second, we have added opportunities for residents and local communities to engage in a more meaningful way in the preparation of the plan.
“These are very important and highly valuable changes but they do mean more time is required to complete the preparation.
“At present the council is carefully working its way through the rich and thorough responses to this year’s consultation – I would like to thank everybody who took the time to submit their views – and at the same time preparing for the next consultation.”
Cllr Saunders stressed the importance of residents’ comments, saying: “We need appropriate and robust evidence to make an informed decision about which edge of settlement Green Belt areas should be discarded from further consideration as potential development sites, and therefore should be left firmly in the Green Belt. It will also help us decide which, if any, can and should be brought forward for development.
“We aim to keep the process transparent and are working to ensure we have available a comprehensive package of supporting information to give us a thorough understanding of the implications of any site specific proposals.
“In particular we are gathering information about the potential impacts on, for example, the highways network, education, health, sewerage and flood risks. We have secured a commitment to positive engagement from Thames Water, which is responsible for ensuring sufficient capacity in the sewerage system to support new development, and are working towards a similar commitment from the Environment Agency, the responsible body for advising on flood risk.
“We have some tough choices to make and may not be able to please everyone who wrote in to us but I can promise that each and every comment is carefully evaluated. I would particularly like to thank those parishes and resident and neighbourhood plan groups who provided some really valuable and challenging ideas.”
Further details are available at www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/pp_borough_local_plan.htm
Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Local Plan consultation