Landowners, developers and the public have until 5pm on 24 May to share suggestions for new development or environmental protection in the Braintree district as part of the Local Plan Review.
A public consultation has been running since early April on the “call for sites”, the first stage of Braintree District Council’s legally required Local Plan Review which will support future growth up to 2041.
The council is seeking a wide variety of potential sites including housing, employment, commercial, public green spaces, community and education facilities, as well as land they would like to see protected or green infrastructure and activity such as biodiversity net gain.
The council’s current Local Plan is designed to run until 2033 but has to be reviewed and updated if necessary, at least every five years.
The easiest way for people to submit suggested sites is through the council’s online public consultation portal available at www.braintree.gov.uk/localplanreview.
Sites received are not automatically put forward for development, but helps councils understand potential sites to meet local needs. Once sites have been submitted, they will be robustly assessed to determine whether they are suitable, available and achievable for development.
Councillor Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning at Braintree District Council, said: “Reviewing our Local Plan is a process we need to go through as we are legally required to update it every five years if we want to ensure it remains a robust local planning document to determine planning applications. This helps us make sure sustainable development is properly planned and in the best locations, protecting open spaces and land for nature, whilst giving us leverage to refuse inappropriate developments on unallocated sites.
“While the development needed between now and 2033 is already catered for, there may be additional land needed to meet longer-term needs between 2033 and 2041, not just for housing but to create jobs, new infrastructure, healthcare and education.
“As we move through this process, residents will have the opportunity to help mould what this plan will look like in the future and make their views known so these can be considered ahead of the plan being finalised.”
People can also email localplan@braintree.gov.uk or visit the council offices at Causeway House in Braintree for a hard copy.
The next stage will include updating the Evidence Base, a collection of documents which guide and inform planning policies and proposals to shape a revised Local Plan before further public consultation.
At a Local Plan Sub Committee on 7th March the decision was made to commence work on a refresh and roll forward of the Braintree District Local Plan to 2041, to be submitted for examination by the end of June 2025.
This review is subject to this position being reviewed if/when a new Local Plan system, guidance and transitional arrangements are released by central government.