let 'em know ...

This has come via our Planning Officer David Robbins.

I think this needs to be widely publicised.

Mendip District Council should be made aware, by as many people as possible, that Peak Oil is coming and that a transition plan is vital. The Core Strategy is their opportunity to safeguard dismantled railway lines, together with associated station sites, buildings and other lineside structures. Mendip District includes Glastonbury & Street, Polsham, Wells, West Pennard, Pylle, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet, Masbury, Binegar and Chilcompton - to name just the S&D stations.

The Council have made a start - in Policy DP12: Safeguarding Corridors for Sustainable Travel - but their wording remains very defensive and manages to avoid mentioning the S&D lines at all!
Mendip Local Development Framework

DRAFT CORE STRATEGY (Preferred Options Stage)

I am writing to inform you of the launch of our consultation period on the new planning strategy for Mendip District. Over the last two or three years various consultation activities and study work has been undertaken and we are now able to publish a full draft of the Local Development Framework Core Strategy for public views. The consultation period for the document runs for 6 weeks from 17th February to 31st March 2011.

You can access all the material via this Time to Plan page or via any good search engine by typing in “Mendip Time to Plan”

A brief summary of the proposals is available in our information leaflet which is being delivered to every household in Mendip.

This is an important document in that it sets out the amount of new development that the area will accommodate in the period to 2026, broadly where it will go, key goals for the district’s five main towns and a range of policies to manage all types of development. It responds to the evolving localism agenda being rolled out from Government and regional housing targets have been dispensed with, replaced by locally evidenced housing requirements.

This consultation period offers an opportunity to see, in full, a draft of the proposed strategy and for people from all walks of life, whether residents, workers, visitors or potential investors to provide us with views about the new proposals. Where appropriate we would also like your views on how the proposals in the document could be refined bearing in mind the issues we have to tackle and for any proposals to be soundly justified. At this stage no decisions are being made and any views you offer will inform what the final Core Strategy contains. We intend to publish a final draft in the autumn of 2011. Unresolved issues remaining after that publication will then be formally examined by a Planning Inspector during 2012 prior to any decision by the council to adopt the strategy.

During this consultation period we will also be inviting:
submission of further development sites within and around the Mendip towns and a defined list of villages for an update to our Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).
specific comments in relation to a new rural affordable housing approach which the council wants to urgently adopt as an interim policy to stimulate more affordable homes for local people.
Specific comments on a review of Special Landscape Features in the district. The Local Plan identified a number of landscape features across the district which were valued as distinctive local landmarks or scenes. Previous consultation indicated that these should benefit from ongoing protection in the Local Development Framework. The Assessment of Special Landscape Features reviews these and considers new areas for designation.


The draft Core Strategy and a wide range of background studies, reports of consultation and explanatory papers will be available on the council website - http://www.mendip.gov.uk/ - via the “Time to Plan” links.

Copies of the documents will also be available at the Council Access Points in Frome, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Street and Wells. The Planning Policy team will also be holding a number of drop in style sessions for people to come and discuss issues, ask questions and generally become better informed about what is proposed. Details of where you can view documents and meet officers are set out below.

We regret that, in the current straightened times, hard copies of the Core Strategy can only be made available at a cost of £10 each reflecting our printing costs. Other documents will also attract a similar charge.

Comments can be made until midnight on 31st March 2011 and given the need to progress work we will not be able to consider responses received after that date.

To respond you can:

complete the Online Survey at http://www.mendip.gov.uk/ via the ‘Time to Plan’ link
download a response form, complete it and return it to us via post or e-mail
write to us directly making reference to the pages and policies you are commenting on at orgdev@mendip.gov.uk or at Mendip District Council, Cannards Grave Road, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BT.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at orgdev@mendip.gov.uk or call Mendip District Council on 01749 648999 and ask to speak to a member of the planning policy team.

We look forward to your interest in this work.


John Meeker
Planning Policy Team Leader
Organisational Development Group

MENDIP DISTRICT COUNCIL
Cannards Grave Road, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. BA4 5BT

( 01749 648999 (Customer Services)

Think of the environment...please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.