Have your say in planning for our local future
Test Valley Borough Council is calling on residents, businesses and visitors of the borough to have their say from today as it plans for the future of its communities.
The authority is currently drafting its next Local Plan, a document which helps to outline future infrastructure and community development, as well as housing and the environment.
Now, residents are being encouraged to have their say about what specific issues and options the authority should focus on when getting into the finer detail of the plan, which lasts for many years. A consultation, launched today, will run through the summer and gives those who live, work and visit Test Valley the chance to contribute to how the future will be shaped.
The refined issues and options stage of the Local Plan covers four main themes for residents to contribute to, which includes living in the borough, working, community infrastructure and facilities, and enjoying Test Valley. The consultation document sets out what has happened recently that the council needs to take into account when planning, as well as the headline feedback from previous public consultation. It then focuses on the issues the authority will be facing when preparing the next Local Plan.
The previous public consultation took place in 2018, where residents could offer their opinion on a broader scale. Now, those have been refined into a more detailed stage about the issues the borough council needs to consider most when planning ahead.
Deputy leader and planning portfolio holder, councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “The Local Plan is one of the most important documents that a local authority can ever produce. It covers many key aspects to our everyday lives and, having taken into account your responses from two years ago, we have refined these views and would like to ask everyone to have their say.
“Whether you are keen to get your views across about how housing development can play a key role in making our communities sustainable, have a passion about how infrastructure can help our borough thrive in the years ahead, or can contribute ideas for how we can make this local plan as green and environmentally friendly as possible, please do have your say. This is a people’s document and we need your voices to make sure that happens.
Residents can find out more around this stage of the Local Plan and the council’s draft plans by visiting www.testvalley.gov.uk/nextlocalplan. To contribute to the consultation, email planningpolicy@testvalley.gov.uk or write to Planning Policy, Test Valley Borough Council, Weyhill Road, Andover, SP10 3AJ.