Lancaster leads the North West
Lancaster City Council has become the first local authority in the north west of England to receive official endorsement for a new style forward planning document.
Lancaster City Council has become the first local authority in the north west of England to receive official endorsement for a new style forward planning document.
The Lancaster District Core Strategy will help shape the district for the next 15 years and details 18 policies on how the council will maximise the district's potential.
Earlier this year the Core Strategy was tested by a government inspector at an independent examination against nine highly demanding 'tests of soundness'.
The strategy has now been given the official thumbs up by the inspector, meaning that Lancaster is the first council in the North West of England to pass these tests.
This is a major achievement as elsewhere in the country a number of councils have had their plans rejected.
Coun Eileen Blamire, cabinet member with responsibility for planning policy, said: “Lancaster City Council is committed to promoting the sustainable growth of our district and ensuring that we capitalise responsibly on our many and varied assets.
“The Core Strategy provides the framework to achieve our vision of a sustainable, self contained and varied group of communities which will lead the North West in its quality of life, environment and design standards.
“Whilst we are very pleased to receive the inspector’s endorsement, we are not sitting on our laurels.
“The next task is to develop the strategy into more detailed policies that will guide investment and development to the most appropriate places while protecting our valued assets.”
The strategy is the result of three years hard work by the council developing and refining options, undertaking a rigorous sustainability appraisal and distilling thousands of pages of evidence into one concise document.
Hundreds of people and organisations were consulted to ensure that the final document reflects the views of the community.
Date Updated: 19/03/09