Winchester District Local Plan - TrustNews Feb 02
I wrote about this plan in the last Annual Report. This brief article is to bring you up to date with the present position.
The broad guidelines for local planning decisions are given in the Winchester District Local Plan. This Plan is perpetually under review, and the Plan currently under study applies to the period up to 2011.
The first cockshy at a new Plan is called the "First Deposit". This is then commented upon by everyone from the County Council downwards through District Councils, Parish Councils and amenity groups such as the City of Winchester Trust, right down to private citizens.
The City of Winchester Trust has commented on the First Deposit, primarily objecting to the excessive number of houses that the District is asked to provide, particularly in Winchester City. We expressed doubt about the number of new shops that must be provided in the City Centre (stop-press news is that a new shopping survey will be carried out), and also feel that the Plan should exert greater control over development of the Bushfield Camp area.
These comments will produce a 'Second Deposit", expected in late summer/early autumn 2002, and this will form the base document for a year-long Public Inquiry, where again everyone from the County Council down to private individuals can have their say. It is almost certain that the City of Winchester Trust will be representing its views at the Public Inquiry.
From the Inquiry comes an Inspector's Report and the adoption of the new Plan - in this case sometime in 2006.