Plans surrounding future housing development in North Somerset have reached an important milestone.
North Somerset Council is currently developing a new Local Plan for the area and the authority has published its response to the latest round of consultation.
Once the North Somerset Local Plan is eventually adopted, it will identify where development can and cannot take place in the area, as well as supporting required services and infrastructure.
The council’s latest Choices For The Future consultation ran from November 2 to December 14, which followed the Challenges For The Future consultation which took place in the summer.
The Choices For The Future document set out how the council will plan for new housing, employment and community infrastructure for the next 15 years following the Government identifying a need for a large amount of housing in North Somerset.
In total, more than 1,600 people took part in the six-week consultation, which focused on possible approaches to the location of future development in North Somerset.
Four approaches were put forward for discussion and people responded about what they liked or disliked about each, or if there are any alternative ways of distributing the proposed growth.
Executive member for planning, councillor James Tonkin, said the final approach is likely to be a combination of different options.
He said: “The responses to the consultation have been so useful in helping the council understand local people’s priorities for development in North Somerset, so thank you to everyone who took the time to have their say.
“The government’s housing target for North Somerset is currently 20,475 new homes over the next 15 years. Without a Local Plan, we could end up with unplanned growth in the wrong places, with no supporting facilities.
“The final agreed approach is likely to be a combination of the various different options and we are determined to produce a Local Plan which provides high-quality places, in sustainable locations, with all the facilities communities need to flourish.”
The council says the results of the consultation will be used as a starting point for developing a draft Local Plan, which will be consulted on this autumn.
To view the results, log on to www.n-somerset.gov.uk/newlocalplan
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