The Wigan Local Development Framework will, in time, replace the Unitary Development Plan. In the meantime the Unitary Development Plan is a ‘saved’ development plan under the terms of the 2004 Act.
The Local Development Framework contains a number of different local development documents.
The development plan part is contained in a series of Development Plan Documents. These can be prepared at different times and for different purposes, but all have to prepared along the same lines as set out by government legislation. The main development plan document is the Core Strategy. We consulted on the Issues and Options for the Core Strategy from February 2008 and our Preferred Options from 9 June to 4 August 2009. We will be consulting on the ‘Publication’ version of our Core Strategy later this year.
Further policy advice is set out in Supplementary Planning Documents. These also have to be prepared according to the requirements of government legislation.
We are committed to involving the community and other stakeholders in the planning policy preparation process. There are many ways to get involved. Our overall approach is set out in our Statement of Community Involvement.
Each document in the Local Development Framework needs to be informed by a robust and credible Evidence Base and a Sustainability Appraisal.
Our Annual Monitoring Report is an important part of the evidence base. It has to be prepared and submitted to the Government Office for the North West in December each year. It has to monitor whether the council’s planning policies are doing what they are intended to do and whether there is a need to revise any policies or introduce new policies.
The plans that we will prepare and when we will prepare them, stage by stage, are set out in our Local Development Scheme. It sets out when people can expect particular stages of policy preparation to take place and, with the Statement of Community Involvement, how they can expect to be able to get involved.
All of these documents together make up the Local Development Framework.
