To be honest, we don’t really know!
As previously reported, the Conservative administration at Basildon council withdrew the emerging new Local Plan back in March and then things went very quiet ahead of the ward elections in early May.
The council removed or archived much of the old documentation on its website and we have seen nothing new published of late.
The result of the elections were that the Conservatives retained control of the council, maintaining their previous majority of 6 seats. You would like to think that there will be some continuity regarding the Local Plan as a result of this, and that previous promises to better include local residents in the plan making process will be honoured. Together with promises to address the excessive housing numbers in the urban brownfield areas, very specifically the proposed Basildon town centre high rise development, as well as the more rural Green Belt areas right across the borough. But time will tell.
At the first council meeting since the elections it was confirmed that the council would operate a Leader and Cabinet system of governance replacing the previous Committee system. Although not explicitly stated at the meeting, the implication is that the Local Plan will be the responsibility of Cllr Moore as a Cabinet member for Strategic Planning & Infrastructure. That title is the name of the previous committee that developed the Local Plan so it’s a big clue.
We are not yet sure how the next iteration of the Local Plan will progress through the Cabinet system but we do have concerns that public visibility might be lessened. This, if proved to be the case, would be a retrograde step for the borough citizens. For something as important as the Local Plan we would expect a high degree of public disclosure and transparency, and not just through the mandatory public consultations as was the case in the past. This is something we will be watching very closely, especially as we have been promised greater involvement.
However, with the first meeting of the Cabinet not being until 7 July we have a while to wait to find out how things will progress.
So for now it’s yet another waiting game, and having been waiting 8 years so far a few more weeks won’t hurt. It’s just more frustration and delay. But we’re used to that.
We have already contacted Cllr Baggott, Leader of the Council, offering our support and our long learned skills. We have yet to hear back from him.
As always we will continue to monitor the situation and provide residents with updates as soon as we have new news, primarily through our Facebook page - Save Billericay From Housing Developments. That is by far the best place to get the very latest news so please ask to join through Facebook if not already a member.
Finally for now, we’d just like to remind everyone that we still have a Basildon Local Plan and it will continue to be used to steer planning decisions until a new version is finally adopted. That Local Plan was not withdrawn back in March, it was the proposed update to that plan that was pulled. Sadly this gets very badly reported in the media, not helped by some councillors and those with a vested interest in development getting it so badly wrong. It may suit their scaremongering agenda but we’d prefer to be factual and truthful. As always!
As previously reported, the Conservative administration at Basildon council withdrew the emerging new Local Plan back in March and then things went very quiet ahead of the ward elections in early May.
The council removed or archived much of the old documentation on its website and we have seen nothing new published of late.
The result of the elections were that the Conservatives retained control of the council, maintaining their previous majority of 6 seats. You would like to think that there will be some continuity regarding the Local Plan as a result of this, and that previous promises to better include local residents in the plan making process will be honoured. Together with promises to address the excessive housing numbers in the urban brownfield areas, very specifically the proposed Basildon town centre high rise development, as well as the more rural Green Belt areas right across the borough. But time will tell.
At the first council meeting since the elections it was confirmed that the council would operate a Leader and Cabinet system of governance replacing the previous Committee system. Although not explicitly stated at the meeting, the implication is that the Local Plan will be the responsibility of Cllr Moore as a Cabinet member for Strategic Planning & Infrastructure. That title is the name of the previous committee that developed the Local Plan so it’s a big clue.
We are not yet sure how the next iteration of the Local Plan will progress through the Cabinet system but we do have concerns that public visibility might be lessened. This, if proved to be the case, would be a retrograde step for the borough citizens. For something as important as the Local Plan we would expect a high degree of public disclosure and transparency, and not just through the mandatory public consultations as was the case in the past. This is something we will be watching very closely, especially as we have been promised greater involvement.
However, with the first meeting of the Cabinet not being until 7 July we have a while to wait to find out how things will progress.
So for now it’s yet another waiting game, and having been waiting 8 years so far a few more weeks won’t hurt. It’s just more frustration and delay. But we’re used to that.
We have already contacted Cllr Baggott, Leader of the Council, offering our support and our long learned skills. We have yet to hear back from him.
As always we will continue to monitor the situation and provide residents with updates as soon as we have new news, primarily through our Facebook page - Save Billericay From Housing Developments. That is by far the best place to get the very latest news so please ask to join through Facebook if not already a member.
Finally for now, we’d just like to remind everyone that we still have a Basildon Local Plan and it will continue to be used to steer planning decisions until a new version is finally adopted. That Local Plan was not withdrawn back in March, it was the proposed update to that plan that was pulled. Sadly this gets very badly reported in the media, not helped by some councillors and those with a vested interest in development getting it so badly wrong. It may suit their scaremongering agenda but we’d prefer to be factual and truthful. As always!
