Want to help shape how Liverpool will look in the future? Think the city needs more houses or better open spaces? Got strong views on the protection of heritage? Here’s your chance to have your say!
Liverpool City Council is hosting three community events, giving local people the chance to share their views over what should be contained in the city’s Local Plan – a key strategy in mapping out the growth and development of the city over the next 15 years.
The ‘Find Out More’ events – which take place at Millennium House, Victoria Street, on Tuesday 21st January at 3pm; on Thursday 23rd January at 9am; and on Wednesday 29th January at 3pm – will give people the chance to meet planning and development officers, learn more about the plan, ask questions and make comments.
The events are an important part of the city’s four-month consultation over its Local Plan, which aims to provide the housing, business, industrial units and infrastructure Liverpool needs by 2028 and beyond.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, said: “It’s really important that local people are fully involved with the development of our Local Plan, because it is such a key document in setting out the way forward for Liverpool over the next couple of decades.
“We want to hear people’s views on the types of development the city needs, which areas shouldn’t be developed and what should be contained in the plan to ensure the on-going growth of the city in the coming years.
“These ‘Find Out More’ events – along with completing one of our consultation forms – are a great opportunity for people to have a direct input into the plan and help shape the future of Liverpool. We want as many people as possible to come along to the events, ask questions and have their say. All views will be taken on-board, as part of the wider consultation process.”
The areas which Liverpool’s Local Plan will cover include:
• Allocating sufficient land to meet housing, business and other development needs
• Setting out opportunities for new development
• Providing clear policies on what will and will not be permitted and where
• Indications of broad locations for strategic development and allocating specific sites for development
• A clear strategy for enhancing the natural, built and historic environment
The Find Out More events will be held in the Herculaneum/Huskisson Room on the ground floor of Millennium House, Victoria Street, in the city centre, on the 21st, 23rd and 29th January. Each event will comprise an introductory presentation followed by a question and answer session.
Places at the events should be booked in advance by calling 0151 233 3021, or by e-mailing development.plans@liverpool.gov.uk
People can also have their say on the Local Plan by visiting www.liverpool.gov.uk/consultation and following the link to the consultation forms. There is the option of providing a ‘quick comment’ on what they would like to see in the plan, or of providing a more detailed response by answering a series of questions on housing, employment and development using a more detailed feedback form.
As well as being available on-line, consultation forms are also available at community libraries or can be obtained by calling 0151 233 3021.
The Local Plan consultation runs until 31st March 2014. The final Local Plan document is expected to be adopted by the city in late 2015 or early 2016.
About the Local Plan
• Under the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework, every local planning authority is expected to deliver sustainable economic growth through up to date Local Plans which will contain strategies and initiatives to achieve their aims.
• Following the end of the consultation, an informal draft Local Plan document – containing more specific details of sites which may be developed – will be produced in late 2014 for further consultation; before the final Local Plan is published in late 2015, for public consultation. It will then be the subject of an independent public examination to determine whether the City Council can formally adopt it.
• Liverpool’s Local Plan is aimed at delivering over 40,000 new homes and 300 hectares of land for industrial and commercial use by 2028, and the consultation gives people the chance to have a direct input into future planning policy by sharing their views on what the plan should contain.
• Views are being sought on a range of planning issues, from the management of certain types of development such as student housing and hot food takeaways, to the provision of open space; and from the design of new homes and shopping areas to the protection of the historic environment.
• Through the consultation there is also a ‘Call for Sites’, with people being asked to air their views on locations where development should happen, sites which should not be developed, and areas which should be developed carefully.
