What is planning?

Planning is about how we plan for, and make decisions about, the future of our cities, towns and countryside. Over the centuries, a formal way of making these decisions was set up.

Your local planning authority is responsible for deciding whether a development - anything from an extension on a house to a new shopping centre - should go ahead.

Local planning authority usually means the District or Borough Council - not the Parish or Town Council.

The planning system is needed to control development in your area.

How does the planning system work?

The planning system in England and Wales follows a plan-led system. This involves preparing plans that set out what can be built and where. The plan-led system was updated by an Act of Parliament (the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act) in December 2004.

Under the new law there are now two main levels of plan:

Regional Spatial Strategies - each Regional Planning Body (such as the south-east of England) is preparing a Regional Spatial Strategy. This plan is called the South East Plan and set out things such as how many homes are needed to meet the future needs of people in the region, and the infrastructure needed to support it such as roads, airports and schools.

Local Development Frameworks - each local planning authority is preparing a Local Development Framework, often refered to as an LDF. This is essentially a portfolio of plans and policies comprised of several key documents including:

• The Local Development Scheme (LDS)
  
• Local development documents (LDD)
  
• Statement community involvement(SCI)
  
• Core Strategy
  
• Site Allocation Documents
  
• Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD)
  
• Sustainability Apprasial (SA)
  
• Strategic Environmental Assesment(SEA)
  

Planning that relates to waste and minerals sites for example landfill sites and gravel extraction are still dealt with at a county level in the Waste and Minerals Plan.

These different types of plan are usually available via the local authorities websites or at local library.

Copyright Sussex Wildlife Trust Jan 2009

WildCall Factsheet disclaimer: All information contained within Sussex Wildlife Trust WildCall factsheets is to the best of our knowledge true and accurate at the time of writing. The Sussex Wildlife Trust will not accept any responsibility or liability for any losses or damage resulting from following the advice given.