• The Herefordshire Local Plan - Core Strategy was adopted in 2015. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires that local authorities should review their local plan every five years to determine if an update is required. Herefordshire Council resolved in November 2020 that an update of the Local Plan would be required.
• Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) requires that public consultation takes place at key stages during the preparation of a Local Plan.
• The new Local Plan will help shape growth and development across the county over the period from 2021 to 2041. The Plan will seek to ensure that we deliver the required homes, jobs, infrastructure and services to support growth in a way that is appropriate for the rural and historic character of the County.
• As part of the preparation of the new Local Plan for Herefordshire the existing County-wide planning policies need to be reviewed, to determine their effectiveness, consistency with national planning policy and whether they would help to deliver key aspirations of the Herefordshire County Plan.
• The document includes suggested policy approaches on a number of topic areas, including Infrastructure, Climate Change, Health & Community and Tourism.
• It is proposed to undertake the public consultation from 4 April until 16 May 2022. The Policy Options paper will be available to download from the Herefordshire website and view via an online consultation platform. Printed copies will be made available on request. It is intended to send posters to every town and parish council to post on their noticeboards and local parish magazines. A presentation for parish councils will also take place during the consultation period. Email notifications will be sent to all consultees and individuals registered on the Local Plan consultation database.
• Information points, including Talk Community Hubs and Libraries will be used to spread information about the consultation.
• The Policy Options consultation results will help form the preferred options for the final set of policies presented in the draft Plan.
• This is the second of a series of Local Plan consultations undertaken over the next few months as options for the Local Plan are developed.