Following the scrapping of the Regional Plan by the Coalition Government earlier this summer, Babergh District Council today (October 1) becomes the first council in Suffolk to ask their residents how the district and each part of it should grow in the future.
With the housing and jobs growth targets scrapped, Babergh’s planners need to know what people think are the right figures for which they need plan.
An eight week period of consultation starts on October 1 and people are invited to have their say on how the district should look – in the broadest sense - over the next 20 years. A number of different scenarios are set out in the document with suggested housing growth levels ranging from 1,900 to 10,400 new houses depending on which factors are considered most influential, and jobs growth numbers ranging from 8,100 to 10,500.
The document also shows a range of nine potential “Broad Locations” for growth to choose from and to rank by preference – four around Sudbury and Great Cornard, three around Hadleigh and two on the Babergh Ipswich Fringe.
“It’s all about priorities” said Cllr. Nick Ridley, Chairman of the Council’s Strategy Committee, “planning for growth in Babergh is about balancing growth with protecting our natural resources. Scrapping the Regional Plan means that we can start from the bottom up and set our own targets and priorities”.
“We want people to help shape a vision for the growth of our district, and to help us choose how much development we should have over the next twenty years and where it should go.”
If you want to be part of the new ‘bottom-up’ approach to planning these high-level targets and saying where the growth should go in Babergh it’s all on the Babergh website www.babergh.gov.uk/babergh/ldf and copies of the document and leaflets are available at all libraries (including mobile libraries) in the district, town council offices and the main Babergh Council office in Hadleigh. Responses need to be made in writing and with the council by November 26 at the latest.
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