Westmorland and Furness Local Plan: Early Conversation Survey 2024

Overview

We are at a very early stage in preparing the Local Plan. Before we put pen to paper on the new plan, we are starting with a conversation with you about the places you live, work and visit across the Local Plan area.

What is a Local Plan?

The Local Plan:

• allocates sites for housing and other developments, such as new employment sites and minerals and waste sites (e.g. quarries and recycling centres)
• ensures a steady and adequate supply of aggregates (minerals) to deliver the amount of development and infrastructure being planned for
• contains the policies that we use to guide and decide whether to grant planning permissions for new development and
• responds to changes in the area such as changes in population as people are born and grow, new people come in, people leave and people get older and changes in national and global environment and economy

The Local Plan doesn’t just set out rules – it seeks to make our area better. For example, by reducing the environmental impact of new development, building affordable housing, helping our wildlife and reducing flood risk. It also helps improve our infrastructure (including roads and cycleways, schools, drainage systems, facilities for recycling/waste management and community facilities). It identifies the infrastructure needed to support development and shows how it will be accommodated and provided for.

Why your views matter

We would like your thoughts on a range of topics about our places. Your views will help shape the vision for the Local Plan, the issues that it needs to address and how these will be tackled. It’s important that we listen to as many people as possible to understand their point of view.  We want you to think about not just the here and now, but what is best for the future of the area – the things that your family will want from future development.

What's next?

This is the first stage in preparing our Local Plan. We will listen to all the comments and suggestions in this consultation. There will be future consultations as the plan develops and the draft plan emerges.