Stroud District Local Plan, invite to submit development sites

The Stroud District Local Plan was formally adopted by the Council on 19th November 2015 and sets out the strategy for development in the District until 2031.

The Council has agreed to undertake an early review of the Local Plan to roll forward the Plan to beyond 2031 and to consider assisting other local planning authorities in this housing market area to meet any unmet development and infrastructure needs, should they be identified, in accordance with the Duty to Co-operate.

Call for Sites

To start the review process, Stroud District Council is now inviting the submission of potential development sites for consideration in a new Strategic Assessment of Land Availability (SALA). The SALA 2016 will assess site opportunities that exist to meet the future housing, economic development, retail and community needs of the District. National planning practice guidance recommends that land assessments are carried out at an early stage of plan preparation.

The Council would like to invite parish and town councils, landowners, agents or potential developers to put forward sites, in and around the District’s settlements, which may be suitable for:

• new housing development of five dwellings or more,
• sites of 0.25ha/ 500m2 of floorspace or above that could be suitable for economic development, other residential development, retail or community uses.

To be included in the assessment, an individual site submission form needs to be completed for each site you wish to be considered, accompanied by a site location plan on an Ordnance Survey base, clearly identifying the site boundaries and access to the site.

The new SALA requires up to date details about the nature, ownership and development potential of each site. Any site that has previously been submitted, in response to Call for Sites exercises in 2008 and 2009 or alongside consultations on previous Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments (SHLAAs), and remains available, should now be resubmitted to be included in the new assessment process.

If you would like to submit a site for consideration, please visit the Consultation Hub on the Council’s website at www.stroud.gov.uk or follow the link below, to download a Site Submission Form: 

http://consultation.stroud.gov.uk/

All sites submitted will be assessed for their suitability, availability and achievability, and cannot be treated confidentially. Although the SALA is an important evidence source to inform future plan-making, it does not determine whether a site should be allocated for development or indicate that planning permission will be granted.

Methodology

The Council is, at the same time, consulting on a revised methodology for this SALA, in the light of changes to national policy and guidance. To view the revised methodology, please follow the same link above. 

Please email completed site submission forms and any comments on the revised methodology to local.plan@stroud.gov.uk or send to the Council at the above address, marked FAO Planning Strategy Team.

Please provide your Call for Sites submissions / comments on the methodology by 18 January 2016.

Further information on the review of the Local Plan will be available during spring 2016. 

Should you have any queries on the SALA, please contact the Planning Strategy Team on 01453 754143 or by email at local.plan@stroud.gov.uk