The County Durham Plan (the Local Development Framework for Durham) sets out the planning framework and policies for the county, and will make specific proposals for new developments through a collection of related planning documents.
How to get involved and comment
We want you to get involved in the new County Durham Plan - Core Strategy Issues and Options Paper consultation. The consultation runs from 11 June to 6 August 2010, so please let us know your views on the emerging County Durham Plan.
In 2009, we asked you to help us understand the main issues that affect County Durham, its towns and villages. We have used this information to develop a number of options to meet these objectives. Now we want to know what you think. Have we succeeded in achieving the ambitions of the county? Have we taken into account your needs and the needs of your community?
How can you get involved?
The full consultation documents will be available for comment on 11 June 2010. Please visit the County Durham Plan Consultation Pages to view the document and to lodge your comments. Copies are also available at local libraries and our customer access points. You can send responses in a number of ways and you can submit comments to us by picking up a response form from libraries. However, we would encourage you to submit your views via the consultation pages (above).
We will also be running a series of roadshows around the county where you can talk to officers and share your views. These will be at:
Consett Library
Monday 14 June, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Chester-le-Street Library
Tuesday 15 June, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Sedgefield Library
Thursday 24 June, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Meadowfied Leisure Centre
Wednesday 30 June, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Stanley Louisa Centre
Wednesday 30 June, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Lanchester Library
Thursday 1 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Seaham Town Council Offices
Wednesday 7 July, 12 noon - 5.00pm
Peterlee Library
Tuesday 13 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Barnard Castle, Witham Hall
Tuesday 13 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Durham Town Hall
Thursday 15 July, 1.00pm - 6.00pm
Bishop Auckland Library
Monday 19 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre
Monday 19 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Abbey Leisure Centre
Wednesday 21 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Ferryhill Library
Monday 26 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Shildon Library
Monday 26 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Stanhope Dales Centre
Tuesday 27 July, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Crook Civic Centre
Tuesday 3 August, 12 noon - 5.00pm
Spennymoor Town Hall
Wednesday 4 August, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Links to related council documents and functions
The County Durham Plan will directly link with the Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2023 and Local Area Agreement. Development Plan Documents (DPD) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) are prepared alongside Sustainability Appraisals (SAs) to ensure the documents are sustainable in social, environmental and economic terms.
The Local Government (Structural Changes Transitional Arrangements) Regulations 2008, which came into force on 27 November 2008, transferred responsibility for preparing the Local Development Framework (LDF) to Durham County Council.
The Local Development Scheme
The Local Development Scheme (LDS), the first stage of preparation for the County Durham Plan, is a project plan that represents an agreement with central Government outlining the arrangements for producing the County Durham Plan. It illustrates the relationship between the individual documents currently being proposed and how they fit into the council’s wider strategies.
This project plan supersedes those previously adopted by Durham County Council about minerals and waste and those adopted by the former district councils about all other planning policy matters. It provides a revised outline of the policy documents we will produce over the next three years and the timescale for their production. This project plan will be revised over time to reflect progress made and to include subsequent policy documents.
County Durham Local Development Scheme 2010.pdf (30 pages, 366kb)
Content of the Local Development Scheme
The Local Development Scheme includes milestones for the following documents:
- The Core Strategy contains the overarching strategy for future development of the county to which all subsequent planning documents must conform. The Core Strategy will cover the period up to 2030 and will include a vision and strategic objectives, a spatial strategy, core policies, strategic development sites and a framework for monitoring and implementation.
- The Development Management DPD will expand on the policies within the Core Strategy and will include more detailed policies for the management of development. While the Core Strategy will set out our vision and aspirations in fairly broad terms, the Development Management DPD will be more specific. It might, for example, identify the type and size of retail units allowed outside town centres or the control of hot food takeaways. It will also carry forward, where appropriate, existing development management designations made in former district council local plans.
- The Development Allocations DPD will deal with new sites for development. It will identify appropriate sites for new development required by the Delivery Strategy for the county. It will explain the rationale for their selection, taking into account the county’s requirements for housing and industry, the transport infrastructure which would be needed to allow new development, and the sensitivity of the surroundings. The Development Allocations DPD will also provide the detailed framework for the delivery of the South and East Durham Growth Point.
- The Gypsy and Traveller DPD will describe how the council will meet its obligations to provide accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers. The DPD will establish the number of equipped caravan pitches which need to be provided across the county, and identify appropriate sites for them.
- The Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations DPD will develop the strategic minerals and waste content of the Core Strategy DPD. Strategic components of the waste and minerals delivery strategy, including strategic sites will be in the Core Strategy. Where needed and justified, the Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations DPD will allocate non-strategic minerals and waste sites.
- The Proposals Map will show the areas of operation of all of the policies contained within DPDs. For example, it will show areas which have been allocated for specific types of development, such as industrial estates and retail areas.
In addition to the above DPDs, we are producing a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which will set out guidance relating to sustainable design. SPDs are no longer statutory planning documents but tools to supplement the statutory DPDs. Recent changes to legislation mean they are no longer included within the Local Development Scheme. To keep informed of progress relating to the Sustainable Design SPD, please visit our Sustainable Design Supplementary Planning Document web page.
Future work
Local development documents that are vital to spatial planning in the county and those where resources have already been committed, will be prioritised. Other local development documents will be produced as soon as time and resources allow, while others may be produced if and when they are required. These are listed below:
- Durham City Area Action Plan
- Spennymoor, Peterlee and Bishop Auckland Area Action Plans
- Stanley Town Centre Area Action Plan
- Consett Area Action Plan
- Newton Aycliffe Area Action Plan
- Barnard Castle Town Centre Area Action Plan
- Chester-le-Street Area Action Plan
Monitoring our progress
The Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) is required to monitor how we are performing in implementing the Local Development Scheme and how effective plan policies are in achieving the aims and objectives set out in the Local Development Framework (known as the County Durham Plan). As the County Durham Plan is not yet adopted, the Development Plan for the county currently comprises: saved policies from the former district and county Local Plans; and the saved policies from the Structure Plan and the Regional Spatial Strategy. The AMR is submitted to the Secretary of State by the end of December each year.
The Annual Monitoring Report for Durham County Council 2008/09 (172 pages, 3373kb)
The Annual Monitoring Report for Durham County Council and Durham District Local Authorities 2007/08 (128 pages, 1430kb)
Monitoring reports are also available for each of the former districts and county areas (Local Plans) from 2004/05.
Evidence base work
Durham Green Infrastructure Strategy
We are producing a Green Infrastructure Strategy for the county, which will help to identify and link up important green spaces, such as parks and other environmental features, to ensure we have more sustainable places across the county. More information will appear shortly.
Economic justification for the County Durham Plan
The development of the County Durham Plan is based upon the the principle that the plan should achieve a significant uplift, or 'step change', in the economy to radically improve the prospects of the county. A report has been produced to set out the economic case supporting the strategic objectives and policies proposed in the Core Strategy Issues and Options Paper.
Employment land review
Durham County Council is currently undertaking an Employment Land Review (ELR). We are seeking to identify suitable sites for possible employment development up to 2037. If you would like a site to be considered for employment development, more information is available on the Employment Land Review page.
Open space, sports and recreation survey
Our Open Space Needs Assessment considers the quality, quantity and accessibility of open space, sports and recreation facilities across Durham. It also sets out local standards for providing facilities. The final assessment forms part of the evidence-base for the preparation of the County Durham Plan.
Planning for low carbon in County Durham
The Planning for Low Carbon in County Durham Study assists the development of planning policy in the County Durham Plan to help us to deliver the regional target for decentralised and renewable or low-carbon energy sources. The study reviews relevant national and regional planning policy resulting in some key recommendations for policy development at the county-scale. It also assesses options for renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Relief road studies
A pair of studies have been prepared to assess the viability of relief roads being proposed to the north and west of Durham City as part of comprehensive transport improvements within the city. The reports should be considered in conjunction with other measures to address the impact of the business and housing needs of the City. The reports can be downloaded by clicking on the following links:
Northern Relief Road Study (June 2010) (56 pages, 7930kb)
Western Relief Road Study (June 2010) (50 pages, 8045kb)
Retail and town centre uses study
The Durham County Council Retail and Town Centre Uses Study (Nov 2009) (838 pages, 9458kb) assesses the local shopping and leisure patterns. The study provides a health check of the main town centres within the County to determine the strengths and weaknesses of our centres as well as advising where extra shopping and leisure provision are required.
Please note that the study is comprised of an Executive Summary document, Volume 1 Report which provides a quantitative assessment, Volume 2 Report which provides a qualitative assessment and an Appendix section. These separate documents have been merged into a single file to avoid the need for a large number of separate documents.
Settlement study
This study provides a detailed assessment of each of the settlements in County Durham, to provide evidence to support a recommended settlement hierarchy in the County Durham Local Development Framework and to specifically outline this within the Core Strategy. This study is a consultation document.
Interested parties are invited to make their views known on this document. All comments should be submitted by 6.00pm on 6 August 2010. Please follow the link to the County Durham Plan Consultation Pages.
Strategic flood risk assessment (SFRA)
The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment gives us an overview of areas that may be susceptible to flooding, including flooding from the county's main river systems as well as an overview of flood risk from coastal waters, groundwater and from surface water runoff. The SFRA will inform the selection of development sites.
Strategic housing land availability assessment (SHLAA) - site suitability
As the local planning authority for the county, national planning policy (Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing) requires us to carry out a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) to assess future sources of land for housing. Further information can be found in the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.
Strategic housing market assessment
The County Durham Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2008 (211 pages, 2216kb), was commissioned jointly by the County Council and former District Councils. It is based on the requirements set out in PPS3 and the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Guidance produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Sustainability appraisal - scoping report
The LDF must be subject to a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) to inform the development of its policies and to help mitigate, as far as possible, any negative impacts that may arise from them. A draft SA scoping report has been produced to set out the sustainability objectives that will be used to appraise the County Durham LDF, along with background information on other policies and baseline details used to arrive at the objectives. Further information can be found in the Sustainability Appraisal.
Technical papers - core evidence documents
We are producing a range of technical papers to research the scope of planning issues that will need to be addressed in the LDF. The technical papers will also act as a shared evidence base to support wider council policy formulation and review. It is vital that the policies and proposals in documents are based on accurate and tested evidence and needs assessment. By producing the technical papers we can discover any gaps in our evidence base and identify any additional work required to fill these gaps. Further information can be found in the Local Development Framework - Technical papers.
Technical report - minerals safeguarding areas
As the local planning authority for the county, national planning policy requires us to identify mineral safeguarding areas and safeguard the mineral handling, processing and transportation infrastructure. Given the specialist technical nature of this subject a consultation report, Mineral Safeguarding Areas, has been produced which has been specifically targeted at the minerals industry and their trade organisations.
Wind farm development and landscape capacity: North and South Durham Coalfield study
The study assesses the potential of North & South Durham Coalfield wind resource areas to accommodate wind farm development. The study provides a greater understanding of the landscape impact of wind farm development in the areas which are identified in the RSS as offering the potential to accommodate wind energy development. It explores impacts on the landscape in terms of both character and cumulative impact. The purpose of the study is to provide the relevant councils with a tool they can use to assess planning applications in their district and to help inform the development of their Local Development Framework. To view a copy of the document please click on the following link which takes you to an external website Wind Farm Development and Landscape Capacity: North & South Durham Coalfield
More information
For more details about the information on this page, please get in touch with the contacts below.