About Local Dev't Framework

The Government has made changes to the planning system which will affect how development plans are prepared in the future. Through the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Town and Country Planning Regulations (Amendment 2008) Local Development Frameworks (LDF) will replace Local Plans.

The intention is for LDFs to be much shorter and concise than Local Plans, quicker to prepare and much more “user friendly”. The current Local Plan is just one document. The new LDF will be a folder of different documents called Local Development Documents (LDD’s).

A useful guide explaining all about Local Development Frameworks is available on the Planning Portal Website.

Corby, Kettering. Wellingborough and East-Northamptonshire Councils together with Northamptonshire County Council are working together to produce a Local Development Framework for North Northamptonshire. The North Northamptonshire Local Development Framework (LDF) will comprise of a Core Spatial Strategy, together with a series of Local Development Documents (LDD's) and Area Action Plans (AAP's) which may be prepared at different times, and cover different subjects and areas.

The amount of development to take place in North Northamptonshire is included in the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands:

Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS8)

The Regional Plan provides the strategy within which local authorities' planning documents and local transport plans are prepared and major investment decisions taken.

On 27th May 2010, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles wrote to every local planning authority and the Planning Inspectorate highlighting the new Government plans to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS). In the East Midlands this was known as the East Midlands Regional Plan.

For more information view Secretary of State's letter.

Secretary of State Letter 27th May 2010

On 6 July 2010, the Secretary of State announced the revocation of all Regional Strategies with immediate effect.

For more information visit the letter to Chief Planning Officers on Revocation of Regional Strategies.

Letter to Chief Planning Officers- Revocation of RSS 6th July 2010

Therefore in practical terms, the East Midlands Regional Plan no longer exists and does not form part of the development plan. The strategic planning policy framework is now provided by the North Northamptonshire Core Strategy and those remaining Corby Local Plan saved policies.

References to Regional Spatial Strategies will remain in planning legislation until they are officially abolished with the enactment of the proposed Decentralisation and Localism Bill.

The North Northants Local Development Framework

 The North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit is a partnership of Corby, Wellingborough, Kettering and East Northamptonshire councils together with Northamptonshire County Council who have worked together to create an overall plan for North Northamptonshire. The Joint Planning Unit reports to a Joint Planning Committee, and works closely with the North Northants Development Company.

 The North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit produced the North Northamptonshire Core Spatial Strategy was adopted in June 2008. This Plan sets out the overall spatial strategy for North Northamptonshire for the period 2001-2021, including where development should be located, and the standards it should aim to achieve. The Core Strategy is the framework for the Site Specific Plans being prepared by the individual Borough/District Councils.  

 As well as preparing the Core Spatial Strategy, the Joint Planning Unit is responsible for preparing Supplementary Planning Documents on Sustainable Design and Developer Contributions to provide more detail and guidance to specific policies in the Core Strategy

 Information about the work of the Joint Planning Unit, the Core Spatial Strategy and the North Northamptonshire LDF can be found on the Joint Planning Unit Web Site www.nnjpu.org.uk

 If you have any questions about the work of the Joint Planning Unit tel: 01536 274974 email: info@nnjpu.org.uk

A list of adopted LDF documents can be found here

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