West Suffolk Local Plan (Regulation 18) Preferred Options

Please register on the system and submit your comments on the preferred options consultation documents.

Preferred options update

Responses received to the preferred options documents have been published.

Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on 'view the responses'

To view comments on a specific part of a document you should click on the document image below and navigate to the section you are interested in. The comments can be viewed at the bottom of the section.

Please contact us on 01284 757368 or consultation.planningpolicy@westsuffolk.gov.uk if you require further assistance.

Please note: update to the West Suffolk Local Development Scheme (LDS)
Please click here to view the updated LDS.

West Suffolk Council, through its officers and a working group comprising a cross party mix of councillors, has been making good progress in reviewing the submissions submitted from the preferred options consultation. We have looked at the various evidence, and we have had ongoing conversations with infrastructure providers and stakeholders to help test the deliverability of sites within the plan period and understand any barriers that would at first need to be overcome.

This has informed our ongoing work in the drafting of planning policies and the selection of sites for housing and employment. All of this has been in readiness for consulting on the submission draft plan, the final stage before it is sent to the planning inspectorate.

Given the significant progress that the council has already made with the evidence base already submitted, we will not be inviting or accepting the submission of any further sites.

We are, however, making a small adjustment to the West Suffolk Local Plan timetable. This is so the next stage of the draft can include changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which are part of a national policy consultation announced by Government shortly before Christmas. Any changes to the NPPF are expected to be published in the spring and will inform the preparation of local plans.

This means that rather than consulting on the submission draft in the spring, we will consult in the latter half of the year.

The Government’s consultation on the NPPF includes suggested transitional arrangements for those authorities that are preparing local plans. This encourages local authorities to continue preparing local plans and for them to be submitted to the Inspectorate by the 25 June 2025 at the latest.

If you are registered on this consultation system you will be informed of the consultation dates of the submission plan later this year.

About this consultation and how to respond

This preferred options consultation draft of the local plan is the second opportunity for you to get involved with preparing the new plan. We want to hear your views and to make this as easy as possible for you to do this. This is #YourFuture #YourSay and now is the chance for you to help shape the future of West Suffolk.

Click below for details on how to comment on the documents.

Read more

About this consultation and how to respond

This preferred options consultation draft of the local plan is the second opportunity for you to get involved with preparing the new plan. We want to hear your views and to make this as easy as possible for you to do this. This is #YourFuture #YourSay and now is the chance for you to help shape the future of West Suffolk.

A good local plan is central to the future development of West Suffolk and our communities. It is much more than just about where housing and associated facilities may go but will also set out how best to support the future prosperity of our area and future generations as well as tackling wider issues such as improving the economy, health and tackling climate change. It is about planning to make sure we get the right kind of development in the right place while protecting our environment. The local plan shapes planning and development in West Suffolk here up to 2040 which is why it is vital that people have their say.

How to comment

All of the consultation information is available to view in our live exhibition hall. There is also an online chat facility in the exhibition hall where you can chat to planning officers if you have any questions.

The best way to comment on the local plan is online via the council’s consultation system. If you have difficulty commenting online, or you need information in a different format, please let us know and we will be happy to help.

You can email us planning.policy@westsuffolk.gov.uk and if you have any questions on any aspect of this consultation, please contact a member of the strategic planning team on 01284 757368.

The consultation period runs from 26 May 2022 (9am) to 26 July 2022 (5pm) and all comments must be received by Tuesday 26 July 2022 at 5pm.

We have commissioned and produced background evidence that have helped inform this draft of this plan. These are available to view at West Suffolk Local Plan background evidence documents on our website.

How we deal with your data and protect it

We are collecting your personal information in order to process your comments under the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 and the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012. Your name, address, (and all unredacted personal details as submitted by yourself), organisation, and comments may be passed to an independent planning inspector or examiner to consider the soundness legal compliance of the planning policy documents being produced. Apart from that your data will not be shared with third parties unless used for council purposes, in order to enquire and receive information relating to your comments, the prevention or detection of crime, to protect public funds or where we are required or permitted to share data under other legislation.

Your data will be kept until the document is superseded in line with our retention policy.

You have the right to access your data and to rectify mistakes, erase, restrict, object or move your data in certain circumstances. Your data will not be subject to automated decision making and processing. For further information on our data protection policies please go to our website: How we use your information or email: data.protection@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Please note that all images in this document were taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preferred Options consultation documents are available below

Additional consultation documents

The sustainability appraisal (SA) is available to view below. Please use the separate response form to send your comments on the SA.

The infrastructure delivery plan is available to view and comment on through the document below.

Timeline

  • Opened
    26 May 2022 at 09:00
  • Closed
    26 Jul 2022 at 17:00