West Suffolk Local Plan (Regulation 18) Issues and Options October 2020

We are writing to update you on the West Suffolk Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation which you took part in. We want to thank you first off all for making your views known as these are crucial in helping shape the plan going forward. We also would like you to review your responses and check they are accurate.

The Local Plan Issues and Options consultation closed on 22 December and received a high number of comments, with over 3,000 individual representations received. All of these responses are now viewable online at public consultation system.

In addition, 24 comments were received to the Sustainability Appraisal (SA), 18 to the Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) and 61 to the Sustainable Settlements Study. The responses received are also available at the link above (under News and Updates).

The council is preparing a response to the representations received. When complete summary tables of all the representations together with an officer response will be available at the weblink above on 10 May 2021. Given the number of responses the council will also publish a summary of the key issues raised during the consultation.  

How to review your response

We would appreciate it if you could review your own comments to check they are accurate, please note:

• Comments submitted by email or post were entered by council officers and you should check that we have accurately captured your views.

• Some comments submitted via the online system on particular sections may have been moved to a more appropriate section or document.

• Some comments have been deleted due to duplication where they are made by the same respondent. This is only done where the comments were repeated more than once within the document. This is normal practice and these have been combined to avoid repetition. It should be noted that this does not affect the weight given to a particular issue.

• Comments submitted on Parts 1, 2 or 3 through the online questionnaires have been transferred and will be shown as a comment against the section they relate to.

To view your comments online please log in to your account at public consultation system using your registered email address.

If your comment has not been interpreted correctly please let us know by email at consultations.planningpolicy@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Call for sites

In response to the call for sites, 77 new sites were submitted for consideration. The sites are being processed and mapped and will be made publicly available at the link above on the 10 May 2021.  

Local plan evidence base

A number of evidence base studies are being prepared or are in the process of being commissioned to help inform the next draft of the plan, including an employment land study, a retail study, a green infrastructure study and site wildlife audits. As studies are finalised, they will be made available on the table of background evidence documents.

Next Steps

Officers are currently preparing evidence and background information to help inform the next draft of the plan which will establish the council’s preferred housing requirement, settlement hierarchy, distribution strategy and site allocations.

The preferred options draft plan is scheduled for consultation in January 2022, and it is anticipated that the document will be presented to councillors for approval to consult towards the end of 2021.

The most up to date timeline for the production of the plan can be seen here.  

How to contact us

If you have any questions about the local plan process or timetable, please contact consultations.planningpolicy@westsuffolk.gov.uk or telephone 01284 757368.