The Local Development Framework
The Council has started work on the formulation of the Local Development Framework (LDF).
The LDF will eventually replace the Borough Local Plan and will provide an umbrella of policies and guidelines within which decisions on planning matters will take place.
The LDFcovers a very broad area including regeneration, transportation, housing, land use etc. It will be made up of a number of Local Development Documents each covering a specific subject or geographic area.

Community Involvement
The Council intends to consult the local community throughout the formulation process and has drawn up a Statement of Community Involvement which explains how this consultation will be carried out. Public participation will be encourgaed through questionnaires and workshops.
Essentially for each Document an initial consultation (stage 1) is carried out with "specific stakeholders and representative bodies". Full public participation (stage 2) then follows before the Document is approved by Council and sent to central government for ratification.

Core Strategy
The Core Strategy is the first Development Plan Document (DPD) being drawn up. It aims to provide a high level view on how Southend is to develop over the next 20 years or so to meet both local needs and the requirement of central government for an additional 6000 homes in the Borough.

Stage 1 of the consultation process has already been carried out and the Council is currently seeking the views of the general public (Stage 2). The questionnaire must be returned (by post or via the website) to the Council by 16th September

Click here to complete
the Core Strategy questionnaire online via the Council's website
[scroll down to "Do it online"]

Design & Townscape Guide
The Design & Townscape Guide is a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which seeks to outline the design and building considerations for evaluating new developments and changes to existing structures.
It effectively replaces all the planning policies currently included in the Borough Local Plan - i.e. Conservation & Townscape Policies (C4, C5, C11, C14 & C15), Conservation & Townscape Policies (H3, H5 & H6)Transport & Parking Policies (T8 & T11). This Guide is the lowest level to which the Council is going to "define" acceptable development. It is vitally important the the views of the residents of Southend are made known to the Council.
Stage 1 consultation ends on 7th September; full consultation will start some time after that.

Click here for an overview of the Design & Townscape Guide, the Design & Townscape Guide itself and
the Design Guide questionnaire (stage 1)

Click here to complete
the Design Guide questionnaire online via the Council's website
[scroll down to "Do it online"]