Planning Policy
Planning Policy guides specific proposals for the development and use of land and therefore most day to day planning decisions. The main context for this work is provided by the Somerset and Exmoor National Park Joint Structure Plan Review of April 2000 and also the Saved West Somerset District Local Plan, adopted in April 2006 which covers the parts of the District lying outside Exmoor National Park.
The Exmoor National Park Authority is the Local Planning Authority for the parts of West Somerset District lying within the Exmoor National Park and as such, are responsible for preparing a separate Local Plan / Local Development Framework for that area.
The section of the Local Plan concerning Community Facilities and Planning Obligations provides the starting point for the Council's approach towards enhanced infrastructure provision for development schemes, for which the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document now provides more detailed guidance.
The new Local Plan to 2032 (formerly known as the LDF Core Strategy) will, when adopted, effectively replace the structure plan and existing local plan. It will set out an integrated set of policies based on evidence informing a clear understanding of the economic, social and environmental needs of the area and the constraints which must be addressed in meeting those needs.
The passage of the Localism Act in November 2011 brought a number of significant changes in the development planning system, which include the introduction of Neighbourhood Development Plans and Orders as part of the statutory planning system. A new National Planning Policy Framework, currently in draft, is due to become operative from the 1st April 2012 which will replace the existing national planning guidance set out in Planning Policy Statements and Guidance Notes.
Planning policy and housing enabling are areas of work which make use of a considerable number of technical terms, some of which are likely to be obscure in meaning to the general public. The glossary available to download from this page helps to explain some of the more common technical terms we use.