Public examination will test plans for future
Archived press release
Date Published: 25/01/10
Residents, community groups and organisations are being invited to take a closer look at Aylesbury Vale District Council’s draft core strategy with a government planning inspector in February, during its official examination in public.
The debate on the document, which is a blueprint for development in the Vale for the next two decades including homes, schools, roads and businesses, as well as local shops, health and leisure facilities, will start on Tuesday 2 February at Aylesbury Civic Centre.
The independent examination will cover a variety of topics including housing delivery, transport, employment opportunities and flood risk and will be led by planning inspector Geoff Salter, who has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Throughout the examination, Mr Salter will establish whether the core strategy complies with legal requirements and if it is justified, effective and consistent with national guidelines.
Only those invited by the inspector as participants in the discussions can speak, but the proceedings are open to the public. After the examination in public, the inspector will issue his report on the core strategy and his findings will be binding on the council.
The council approved its draft core strategy in May 2009 and, as well as highlighting where potential infrastructure and businesses could be located, it also outlines key housing areas where large scale developments could take place in order to fulfil the house-building numbers for Aylesbury Vale, set out by the government in the South East Plan. AVDC must identify sufficient land across the district to meet the South East Plan’s requirement for 26,890 more homes by 2026.
Two of the major proposals within the core strategy concern provision of 9,250 new homes to the east of Aylesbury and a further 5,390 homes to the north of Newton Longville. The examination will look at these development sites in some detail as part of the discussion. It will take into account evidence submitted by the council and comments from residents sent in via the earlier public consultation on the core strategy as a whole and the possible housing locations.
Councillor Carole Paternoster, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, said: “The government inspector will look at whether the core strategy should progress and become the planning policy for the district. It is a significant document and members of the public will be able to attend the examination to hear the debate.”
The public examination will sit for 11 days across February and March. All sessions start at 10am and are open to the public.
Anyone wanting full details of the hearings and issues due to be examined can access the information by clicking on the link below.