CIVIC chiefs are calling for the public to take part in the consultation on the new local plan.

The consultation for Winchester City Council’s Proposed Submission Local Plan ‘Regulation 19’ opened on Thursday, August 29 and will run until 11.59pm on Sunday, October 13.

The council is encouraging all residents, businesses, and organisations in the Winchester district to have their say. The draft plan sets out the council’s vision for future development across the Winchester district – outside the South Down’s National Park. It covers Winchester city, the market towns, villages, and countryside.

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Key themes included within the local plan are the climate emergency and cutting carbon, the creation of affordable homes, chalk streams and rivers, and the natural environment.

In total, the draft plan includes more than 80 policies with other themes covered including the historic environment, creating a vibrant economy and biodiversity and open space, amongst others.

As part of the consultation, WCC has held a series of drop-in sessions, one at the Nutshell Theatre which took place Wednesday, September 11 and another at Wickham Community Centre on Tuesday, September 17.

The next drop-in session will be at The Victoria Hall, in Sutton Scotney, on Wednesday, September 25 between 3.30pm and 7.30pm.

Cllr Jackie Porter, cabinet member for place and the local plan, said: “This Local Plan is the result of over three years of work and has been shaped from feedback from multiple consultations – it’s a plan that’ll protect our environment while ensuring affordable homes for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. To have this plan adopted now will mean our district’s development will be carefully managed and controlled, setting out a strong and sustainable future. As always, we encourage each and every one of our district’s residents and businesses to share their views in what is the final stage of our plan before we submit it to the government.”

Cllr Jackie PorterCllr Jackie Porter (Image: Jackie Porter/Google)

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The Regulation 19 consultation is the final stage of developing the plan before it is submitted to the Secretary of State and the Planning Inspectorate for examination in public.

This timetable is in line with the guidelines and timetable of submitting Local Plans before any policy changes result from the government’s current consultation into the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The consultation is until October 13 and can be found by visiting localplan.winchester.gov.uk before this date.

On this site, visitors will also find the draft Regulation 19 Proposed Submission Local Plan documents and responses to the Regulation 18 Consultation.