Suffolk Coastal is drawing up a new Local Development
Framework (LDF) which will be a ‘route map’ for the development of
our community to 2025, and beyond.
We want the new framework to meet the needs and aspirations of
all who live and work here, or may do so in the future.
Given an enormous spectrum of views, and many conflicting
objectives, it won’t be possible ‘to please all the people all the
time’. Nevertheless, the wider - and better informed - the public
debate can be, the better we will together be able to get to the
best set of solutions.
The LDF talks of ‘policies’, ‘strategies’, and so on, to do with
the numbers of houses, jobs and the like. But really it is about
people, all of us, about the sort of lives we shall lead in the
future and the ‘quality of life’ we, and crucially our children and
grandchildren, will enjoy here.
Factors the framework must take into account
However, we are not free agents, and we have to work within
a huge set of constraints. There are Government policies and rules
that we must follow, and many circumstances and trends in society
which may or may not be welcome, but which are not going to go away
should we ignore them. For the LDF to be both legal and effective,
these are issues that we cannot ignore, for the sake of our future
generations. I hope that all who contribute to the debate will try
to do so in that spirit.
Some of the major factors the LDF must take into account
are:
- The law and Government policy, specifically as defined in the
Regional Spatial Strategy, also called the
East of England Plan (new window). If our
LDF does not conform with that, for example about the number of
new homes, the Government will tell us to do it again.
- Even with no increase in population, more homes are needed
because we are all living longer and more often at home rather than
in care homes, while marital/relationship break-ups mean two homes
rather than one are needed, and young people are leaving home
earlier. Also, more people are moving here for both work and
retirement.
- The need to ensure a healthy local economy, to provide the jobs
and wealth needed to fund both public and individuals’ investment
in our future.
- We need enough working people to support directly or indirectly
our population which has an above average, and increasing,
proportion of older people.
- Protecting the environment which makes this such a special
place to live, work or visit.
- In particular, I am passionate about the need to do what we can
to ensure that our young people can find and afford a home, very
often in their own local community - something which is nowadays
increasingly difficult for the majority.
So - the solutions will not be easy, or always popular with
everyone, but we hope that you will all help in the process of
getting the very best possible way forward for our future
community.
Having your say
The new Local Development Framework
will be subject to a number of stages before its formal
adoption as Council policy, which you will be invited to
comment on, so keep an eye on the website for further
developments.
Councillor Andy Smith.
Cabinet Member for
Planning.