Local Plan Representations

Every local authority is required to prepare and maintain a Local Plan to guide development in their area, which will comprise Development Plan Documents (DPD) upon which planning decisions should be based and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) as well as a range of other supporting documentation.

Before they can be adopted documents must go through a number of consultation stages (depending on the type, subject matter and its complexity) and may be subject to an Examination in Public (EiP).

The key to the development plan system is the preparation of the evidence base. It follows from this that the consultation process is therefore ‘front end loaded’. In other words, local planning authorities are expected to prepare evidence – on subjects as diverse as flood risk, strategic housing land availability and landscape characteristics – and to base their strategy, and the detailed development proposals which follow from it, upon rational evidence.

Mark Simmonds Planning Services can help you navigate the complexities of the plan making system by:

• Monitoring the status and timetables for the preparation or review of DPDs.
• Reviewing existing and emerging DPDs to help justify your proposed development or to substantiate and support your opposition against the proposals of the Local Planning Authority.
• Reviewing the evidence base on which DPDs will be based.
• Preparing the evidence base needed to support the promotion of your development.
• Preparing and submitting representations at formal stages of public consultation.
• Preparing for and attending any Examination in Public.