LIVERPOOL Council says it will create over 40,000 new homes and 300 hectares of land for industrial and commercial use by 2028, under streamlined planning policies aimed at driving forward the city’s economic growth. 

Under a single Local Plan it says it will deliver the housing, business, industrial units and infrastructure the city needs over the next 15 years at least.

It is part of the Government’s new National Planning Policy Framework whereby every local planning authority is expected to deliver sustainable economic growth through up to date Local Plans which will contain strategies and initiatives to achieve their aims. 
 
It will replace a system in which a number of plans - including the Core Strategy –and other development plan documents were being produced.
 
At the heart of the new Local Plan will be the city’s Core Strategy, approved by the City Council in 2012, and which sets out the Council’s vision for planning the city and the policies to deliver that vision. 
 
Among the issues the Liverpool Local Plan will include are: 

*Identifying and then meeting housing, business and other development needs through a clear strategy for allocating sufficient land
*Setting out opportunities for development
*Determining clear policies on what will and will not be permitted
*Clear policies to guide the decisions of Planning Committee on planning applications.

Growth

Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration, said; “This approach will make the production of our planning policies more effective and quicker.  Having them all together in one document will also make them easier to understand and use.
 
“We have to ensure that we have a plan which can drive the city forward despite the current recession and deliver the Mayoral priorities for growth.
 
“The Local Plan will set out clearly how we can achieve this. It will embed the core strategy which we have already approved and which sets out the way forward for city in the next couple of decades.
 
“It will be a very important document to guide the development of Liverpool at a crucial time.”
 
A report on preparations for the new Local Plan will be considered by the cabinet on 22 February.