Contents
Last updated: 23rd January 2020
1. Introduction
Bath & North East Somerset started preparation of a new Local Plan for the District and undertook Options consultation in Winter 2018. The Local Plan was being prepared alongside and to deliver the West of England Joint Spatial Plan. The Joint Spatial Plan Examination has been halted and Bath & North East Somerset Council met on 16 January 2020 and approved the withdrawal of the JSP.
Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to working with our three neighbouring West of England councils and WECA to positively address the strategic planning needs the region, and will be jointly commissioning a refresh of the strategic evidence base to inform future plan-making.
In light of the above the timetable for the progression of the Local Plan is currently under discussion. Clarification on the timetable for further stages will be provided through a revised Local Development Scheme and will also be posted on this Local Plan web page as soon as possible.
2. Consultation November 2018 to January 2019
The consultation documents, background evidence and comments submitted during the consultation are available via the links below:
The consultation on the Local Plan Options document took place between 12 November 2018 and 7th January 2019.
The documents supporting the Local Plan Options, comprising the sustainability appraisal (Appendix 1a and Appendix 1b) and habitat regulations assessment, topic papers and evidence studies can be accessed here.
The Council held a number of staffed exhibitions throughout the District as below. The Local Plan Options exhibition material can also be viewed and downloaded here. Please see the following link for further details on the Strategic Transport Studies consultation.
Next steps
Comments received will be used to inform preparation of the Draft Local Plan to be published in due course. Please see the section on West of England Joint Spatial Plan for details on the review of the Local Plan preparation programme.
If you would like to be informed of this and future consultations by the Planning Policy Team please email planning_policy@bathnes.gov.uk to ask to be added to the mailing list.
3. Previous consultations
In November 2016 the Council published a Commencement document when people had the opportunity to comment on the issues to be addressed in the Plan.
Following on from this the Council published an Issues and Options document in November 2017. The consultation covered for four broad areas:
- Vision & Priorities
- Where new development should be located
- Strategic Development Locations
- University growth and student accommodation requirements
The consultation documents, background evidence and comments submitted during the consultation are available via the following link