Local Plan public consultation underway

There’s still time to get involved in a public consultation which will help to set out how Thanet will be developed up to 2031.

The council is creating a new Local Plan for the area and is encouraging anyone with a view about the future development of Thanet to get involved, before the consultation closes on Wednesday 14 August 2013.

The new Local Plan will set out how much new housing should be provided and where, the growth of the economy and how many jobs are likely to develop, local infrastructure, community facilities and the future role of Westwood and the coastal town centres. It will also identify what land should be protected from development such as our parks and open spaces.

The Local Plan will be the council’s overarching planning policy document covering the whole district up to 2031, and will be used to determine planning applications.

The council has spoken with almost 200 local people at a series of drop-in events held at key public places across the district. These sessions provided members of the public with the chance to find out more about the Local Plan and to speak with officers from the Planning team.

The council will also be contacting a random sample of 1,000 Thanet residents to promote the consultation. They will also be invited to participate in a focus group session to put forward their suggestions for how they think Thanet should develop in the future.

This is the first of three stages of consultation, before the council adopts a new Local Plan in 2015.

To develop a new Local Plan the council has to consider very detailed evidence, which is examined by an inspector.

The council is keen to ensure that members of the public are provided with all of the relevant information to inform their consultation responses. This means that the consultation document is very detailed. 

If anyone needs any help or advice about any of the information provided, or would like to speak with a member of the planning team, they are encouraged to e-mail local.plans@thanet.gov.uk or call 01843 577591.

The consultation document and questionnaire are available to complete online at www.thanet.gov.uk/localplan and hard copies of the document are available at any Thanet library.