The Forum met on July 9 and we didn’t learn much but there are a few items of news:
- The recent local plan consultation received 412 online responses and over 1300 email and postal responses. Thanks to everyone who participated! They are still analysing the results and comments so we don’t know how many people are for or against Green Belt release – but we like to think that the vast majority are in favour of preserving the Green Belt in its entirety.
- The local plan team is now preparing a Local Housing Needs Assessment and a Strategic Land Availability Assessment. The latter will present proposals for where homes and jobs should go.
- There will be an interim consultation at the end of this year for the public to comment on proposed Infrastructure Projects and Priorities and the Integrated Impact Assessment. The latter is a scoping document evaluating impact in terms of the environment, equality and health. That consultation will run for 6-12 weeks. We will post more about that nearer the time.
In the meantime, we know there is a lot going on behind closed doors, so we are keeping up public awareness of the issues and the benefits of the Green Belt and will jump into action if anything important happens.