Email received 4th March 2025 from Cllr Jim Thorndyke, Cabinet Member for Planning, West Suffolk Council
I am writing to make you all aware of a six-week consultation opening today on changes to the West Suffolk Local Plan.
Once adopted, the local plan will guide where new homes may and may not be built up to the year 2041 (this extension from 2040 to 2041 is one of the changes). The local plan includes policies designed to increase the delivery of affordable housing, improve the energy efficiency of homes and make them more adaptable to people’s changing health needs, particularly as people get older.
It also allocates land for employment growth to help meet future need.
The preparation of a local plan follows a process set out by Government. Since 2020, the West Suffolk Local Plan has been shaped by three stages of public consultation and we sent our final draft Submission plan to the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in May 2024.
The Secretary of State appointed planning inspectors to hold an examination in public to scrutinise and test the plan. The examination in public was held late last year, and as is usual, the inspector made some comments and probing questions for the council to respond to. This is designed to further strengthen the legal soundness of the local plan.
We have responded with changes – these are referred to in the local plan process and hereon as main modifications (as opposed to additional modifications which covers typographical errors and factual updates). The examination inspectors have confirmed they are satisfied that these main modifications would address their comments and questions and are happy for us to progress to a public consultation on these changes. This is without prejudice on the inspectors’ part, and they retain their right to make further changes to the plan in response to comments they receive in response to this consultation.
The consultation is limited to the legality and soundness of the main modifications. It does not offer the opportunity to repeat or raise further representations on other parts of the plan or seek wider changes.
The main modifications apply to the strategic and local policies, site allocations and their boundaries and in some cases explanatory text. All of these changes are needed to ensure the local plan is sound. A guidance note and summary of the most significant changes is available online to help consultees respond to the consultation.
The consultation will run until 15 April 2025. Once this has closed, the inspector will consider the comments received, decide if the plan is sound, and make final recommendations before the plan comes back to the council to formally adopt.
People can view the main modifications at https://westsuffolk.inconsult.uk/system/register where they can also make their comments. The consultation documents are also available to view at the following locations during normal opening hours:
Anyone who finds viewing or commenting on the main modifications online difficult, can email planning.policy@westsuffolk.gov.uk or call the strategic planning team on 01284 757368 for help.
Please also see the attached poster.
