Residents are being invited to have their say on a major plan that will shape South Lakeland’s post-Coronavirus future.
South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) is re-starting its engagement work on the Local Plan review – which considers everything from what employment and housing the area needs to tackling climate change and how special landscapes can be protected – after it was paused due to the pandemic.
The council is now keen to hear how people think the experience and impacts of the Coronavirus crisis should influence the long-term plan, which guides council policies for the next 10 years and beyond.
Councillor Jonathan Brook, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Housing and Innovation, said: “We had started to receive some excellent feedback after the review was first launched in February, with some respondents already starting to reference Coronavirus issues as we went into March and the start of lockdown.
“The consultation has been open throughout, but inevitably people have had lots of other things to think about in the last couple of months. Now we’d like to invite people to consider responding, thinking particularly about how they’d like to see the district renew and recover following the pandemic.
“We will likely be living with the impacts and the reality of Coronavirus for years to come, so we need to consider all our plans with this in mind.’’
The Coronavirus crisis has increased the scale of some of the challenges already identified in planning for the area’s future and the need to think about how it might change the way we all live and work in future, and how the council can ensure new development is planned in a way that supports our wellbeing.
Some issues already highlighted by the lockdown include the importance of good quality places to live as we have all spent more time at home, as well as the importance of high quality ‘green infrastructure’ for fresh air and exercise.
The Local Plan can set standards for new homes to ensure that they are built in the right place and are of the right quality to support our health and wellbeing. It also has a role in protecting our green spaces and how we can be better stewards of the environment and tackle climate change; it can examine how planning policies can be more flexible to allow town centres to recover, respond and change following Coronavirus and may look at how demand for new homes in our area could increase as more people potentially look to move out of cities to areas such as South Lakeland where they can work remotely from home.
Councillor Brook said: “South Lakeland is a special place to live and to work. It is an area that regularly features among the best in the UK for its quality of life.
“But keeping it special doesn’t happen by accident. The planning system and the Local Plan have a big role to play.
“In a post-Coronavirus world it will be more important than ever to carefully balance priorities for people, the economy and the environment to help ensure the most sustainable future for South Lakeland.
“The Local Plan is key to ensuring we meet the challenges facing our area, and we hope that everyone who cares about shaping the future of the district will want to be involved.’’
The Local Plan covers the areas of South Lakeland outside the national parks and allocates sites for housing and employment. It also contains the policies that the council will use to decide whether to grant planning permissions for new development.
But it doesn’t just set out rules – it also seeks to set the framework for making the area even better, for example by reducing the environmental impact of new development and supporting measures to tackle climate change, plans to improve town centres, building affordable housing, helping wildlife and enhancing green open spaces, reducing flood risk and even improving infrastructure such as roads and cycleways.
The revised Local Plan won’t be adopted until 2023 following several more consultation phases, including a public examination of the proposals.
The current consultation will continue until 18 September 2020.
Councillor Brook went on: “Everything is up for discussion and no decisions have been made. As we look to the future, it is vitally important that we plan carefully and so we want to hear the views of as many people as possible. We want the Local Plan to be everyone’s plan for the future of South Lakeland.
“We also want people to think about not just the here and now, but what is best for the future of the area – the things that your children or grandchildren will want from future development. The Local Plan will look ahead to 2040 and beyond so it’s a long term plan that will shape that future development.’’
How to get involved
Sign up to the mailing list at www.southlakeland.gov.uk/LocalPlanConsultations to receive newsletter updates.
Read more about the Local Plan Review at www.southlakeland.gov.uk/LocalPlanReview including an early engagement discussion paper, a draft policy review paper and a range of short ‘topic sheets’ on different subject areas.
Answer a survey – Complete one of the surveys at www.southlakeland.gov.uk/LocalPlanReview