THE NEW planning blueprint for East Devon will be available for public review from Thursday 1 December – and residents are being invited to let EDDC know where they would like to see any details of the draft Local Plan amended.

Homes and jobs for East Devon people remain at the forefront of the Council’s aims, coupled with conserving and enhancing the district’s unique environment.

The Draft Local Plan puts forward a holistic approach to planning policy in the district for the coming 15 years, setting out clearly where the main growth areas for housing and jobs are likely to be, whilst enabling rural areas to develop at their own chosen pace.

Several local papers this week carry an advertisement from EDDC showing the main proposals carried in the draft Local Plan. The advert includes a map showing the seven main towns and the part they are expected to play in expansion of housing and employment opportunities in the district.

The advert is a just a summary and invites residents to log on to EDDC’s website* to see the full report or, if they don’t have web access, to view copies of the document in town halls and libraries across the district. With over 200 pages, the draft Local Plan goes into detail about where the homes and jobs will be concentrated, with a major focus being the Growth Point area where the West End of the district has its border with Exeter.

Also emphasised in the advert and in the draft Local Plan are EDDC’s commitment to preserving and enhancing the peerless East Devon coastline and countryside.

The latest public review will run through to the end of January 2012, so extending the normal six weeks to eight to take account of the Christmas and New Year holiday.

The strategic allocations for the seven towns, plus the Growth Point are:

• West End – 7,400 homes plus major new employment sites
• Axminster – 1,050 new homes plus 8 hectares of employment land
• Budleigh Salterton – 100 new homes and low-level employment growth
• Exmouth – 690 new homes plus 20 hectares of employment land
• Honiton – 450 new homes plus 15 hectares for jobs
• Ottery St Mary – 400 new homes plus 3 hectares of employment land
• Seaton – 150 new homes plus 3 hectares for jobs
• Sidmouth – 150 new homes plus 5 hectares of employment land

Mail-out

The Council is also drawing attention to the Local Plan Review through a leaflet being sent to every home in the district. The annual mail-out contains details of changes to waste and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year holiday, but it also informs residents about the planning blueprint review and a separate document called Shaping our Future. This summarises the way EDDC is proposing to manage services to the public over the next four years.

Feedback on the planning blueprint will be used to fine tune these proposals to produce a revised version of the Local Plan for further review and formal examination by the Government in 2012/13.

Councillor Mike Allen, Chairman of the panel that spent many weeks collating evidence and creating the new document, said this week:

“East Devon District Council has spent the past five years gathering official data and consulting with the community as it works towards a new Local Plan.

“This document will guide our planning policy through to 2026. It will show where development should take place – and where it should not. It will define how many homes are built and the sites where new jobs can be created to help local youngsters continue living and working in East Devon.

“Across East Devon as a whole, we will promote jobs and homes that people can afford, together with high quality public transport plus education and opportunities for young people. We will conserve and enhance our historic buildings, countryside and AONBs, and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

“In rural East Devon, we will plan for around 1,000 new homes, with smaller-scale job provision and we will enable rural communities to develop at their own chosen pace”.

To Take Part...

To take part online, please go to: www.eastdevon.gov.uk/localplan

We can also check out the framework within which the Neighbourhood Plans for Trinity Parishes in Uplyme, Combpyne-Rousdon and Axmouth will be developed. Each Parish has important needs which I hope we are able to work together to achieve;

Uplyme : Safeguard Primary Education in the Village.

Combpyne- Rousdon : A business grade Broadband to support the competitiveness of our rural economy.

Axmouth : A proper strategic review of the Lower Axe Estuary Transport Infrastructure, with proper mitigation measures now for Axmouth Village and a proper evaluation of a possible relief road. This was first meeted in 1945 - and the proper evaluation favoured by 83% of Axmouth villagers who voted in a recent referendum.

If all the three are to be achieved, they must be explicitly included in the East Devon Local Plan now - please support by adding your comments to the plan fine-tuning.

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