Have your say on planning and development strategy for borough

The council is due to produce a new Local Plan which will provide a framework and vision for development for the next 20 years and which will set out the volume and location of projects and how they should be delivered.

To seek public input, the council has now launched a consultation which aims to get residents' views on some of the key issues the new Local Plan will need to address. The consultation runs from January 6 until February 27 and consists of a series of questions to help the council prepare the document. The questions can be responded to using our online interactive document here or by asking for a copy of the consultation document to be sent to you. 

The consultation follows a so-called Call for Sites over the summer of 2022, which was an opportunity for individuals, landowners, developers, parish councils and other interested parties to let the council know what sites might be suitable for inclusion in the new Local Plan.

The Call for Sites asked for locations for potential housing, Gypsy and Traveller accommodation, commercial buildings, renewable energy and other types of development. The council also wrote to owners of vacant and agricultural land within, and adjacent to, settlements in the borough. Additionally, it asked stakeholders and the public to submit sites for consideration as Local Green Spaces.

The new consultation provides an opportunity for people to comment on the locations put forward from the Call for Sites and seeks residents' views on:

• The amount of development the council should be planning for 
• How development could be distributed across the borough 
• What infrastructure and community facilities are required to support development
• What can the council do to regenerate and improve Great Yarmouth
• How the council should plan to meet the housing needs of the whole population including Gypsies and Travellers
• How GYBC should plan for future economic development and how it should plan for climate change.
• How the council should plan to ensure protection and enhancement of the natural and historic environment

Currently, the Local Plan for Great Yarmouth is split into two documents - the Core Strategy  (adopted in 2015) and the Local Plan Part 2 (adopted in 2021). The new Local Plan, which will cover the period up until 2041, will replace the Core Strategy and the Local Plan Part 2 in a single document, rather than being separate local plans covering strategy, allocations and detailed policies.

The plan will not cover the part of the borough which falls within the remit of the Broads Authority, which is preparing a new Local Plan for its area.

The Local Plan will sit alongside Neighbourhood Plans as part of the 'development plan' for the area. Existing Neighbourhood Plans will be taken into account in preparing the new Local Plan and the document will set a framework for new Neighbourhood Plans to be prepared against.

A drop-in event will be held at the Town Hall in Great Yarmouth on January 26 between 4pm and 8pm where members of the public can come in and chat to planning officers about the consultation.

• Details of the consultation alongside links to the interactive consultation material can be found online.
• Hard copies of the consultation document can be viewed at the Town Hall in Great Yarmouth and local libraries. 
• Hard copies of the consultation can also be sent out to individuals on request by contacting the Strategic Planning Team at Great Yarmouth Borough Council.