Harrogate Borough Council is reminding people across the district that the six week public consultation on its new Local Plan finishes on Friday 28 August 2015.
Residents, businesses, community groups, voluntary organisations and other agencies have all been encouraged to share their views and help shape the future of the Harrogate area.
The Local Plan sets out how the district should grow and develop between now and 2035 and provides a firm basis for the consideration of planning applications. It is currently at the Issues and Options phase, which is an early stage in its production.
The current public consultation is looking for views and ideas on what the plan should achieve, how new homes and jobs should be distributed across the district, and what potential new policies could be introduced to manage future development.
As part of the current consultation, public exhibitions have been taking place across the Harrogate district where people have been able to look at some of the issues and discuss their ideas with council officers.
For anyone who hasn’t been able to make it along to a public exhibition, all the relevant documents will be available to view until Friday 28 August at the council’s Crescent Gardens offices in Harrogate, at Ripon Town Hall and Knaresborough House, in the district’s libraries, and on the council’s website.
There are also permanent displays at the council’s Crescent Gardens offices in Harrogate and St Peter’s Church on Cambridge Road in Harrogate.
Last year, the council called on the public for assistance in identifying land for future housing and commercial development in the district. Over 450 locations were submitted for consideration of their potential suitability. These submissions, together with the comments and key issues raised during this current Issues and Options consultation will help shape the draft Local Plan, which will then go out for another round of public consultation in July 2016.
Councillor Rebecca Burnett, Harrogate Borough Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainable Transport said:
The latest figures on the amount of housing the district needs suggest that 621 new homes should be provided per year. If we include housing developments that are already planned, we are looking at finding enough land to build nearly 6,500 new homes between in the next 20 years.
At this early stage of the Local Plan we are asking people who live and work in Harrogate district to tell us how, and where, they think we should meet that need.
This consultation offers up a variety of suggestions and the responses and views we get back will help us make decisions that will shape the future of the area for years to come.
I would urge anyone who wants to have their say to make sure they don’t miss out on this early opportunity and to let us know their views by Friday 28 August.
The public consultation is available to complete on the council’s website at: http://consult.harrogate.gov.uk
Completed responses can also be sent to planningpolicy@harrogate.gov.uk
or posted to Local Plan Consultation, Directorate Support, Springfield House, Kings Road, Harrogate, HG1 5NX.
The closing date and time for responding to the consultation is 4.30pm on Friday 28 August 2015.
Consultation on a Draft Local Plan will take place in July/August 2016.
