Liverpool residents are being asked to help shape the growth and development of the city over the next 15 years.
The city has launched a four-month consultation over its Local Plan, which aims to provide the housing, business, industrial units and infrastructure the city needs.
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.
To have their say, people should visit www.liverpool.gov.uk/consultation and follow the link. 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.
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.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, said: “Liverpool’s Local Plan is a really important document, which will guide the development of our city at a crucial time for us. We have to ensure that we have a plan which can drive the city forward despite the difficult economic climate and deliver the Mayoral priorities for growth.
“What’s equally important is that we take on-board the views of local people, so that they are fully involved in the development of the plan and have the opportunity to play their part in setting out the way forward for Liverpool over the next couple of decades.
“This consultation will feed into our final Local Plan document which will include specific sites for development. So it’s important that people get involved at this stage. We want this entire process to be as inclusive as possible, and we welcome all views, from all sections of the community.”
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 development
• Determining clear policies on what will and will not be permitted
• Indications of broad locations for strategic development and allocating specific sites for development
• A clear strategy for enhancing the natural, built and historic environment
As part of the consultation, the city council will be hosting three ‘Find Out More’ events on 21st January at 3pm, 23rd January at 10am and 29th January at 3 pm. For more information on event locations and to book a place in advance, people should call 0151 233 3021.
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.
• At the heart of the preparation of the new Local Plan will be the city’s Core Strategy, approved by the City Council in 2012, which sets out the Council’s vision for planning the city and the policies to deliver that vision.
• 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.
