1. Need and Function

1.1 District-Wide Local Plans are a statutory requirement of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act. This Local Plan covers the whole of the administrative area of North Dorset District Council.

1.2 The North Dorset District Wide Local Plan forms part of the development plan for the District. The development plan comprises the Structure Plan, District Wide Local Plan and Minerals and Waste Local Plan. This Local Plan provides the detailed framework for the control of development and the other use of land. To this end the Plan should be in conformity with the overall strategy of the Structure Plan, produced by the County Council. Section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires the authority to "have regard to the provisions of the development plan, so far as material to the application, and to any other material considerations". In addition, Section 54A of the Act states, "where, in making any determination under the Planning Acts, regard is to be had to the development plan, the determination shall be in accordance with the plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise".

1.3 Local Plans should;

• set out the Authority’s policies for the control of development
• make proposals for the use and development of land specifically allocated for these purposes.

1.4 The original and first District-Wide Local Plan, to an end date of 2001, was prepared in the period between 1990 and 1996 and reached official deposit state (April/May 1996). However the Government Office for the South West requested that the Plan should have an end-date of 2011 which would be compatible with the Government’s Regional Planning Guidance and the emerging County-Wide Structure Plan.

1.5 North Dorset District Council therefore decided to revise the Local Plan with a new end date of 2011 and republish the Written Statement and the Proposal Maps. A Deposit Draft Plan was published in May 1998. Objections to this were considered at a public inquiry in 1999. The Inspector’s Report was published in August 2000 and two sets of modifications were subsequently published. This Plan incorporates all those changes that were agreed through the consultation process.

2. Plan Period

2.1 The Plan makes provision for development to be commenced by the year 2011, that is to coincide with the period of the adopted Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Structure Plan.

3. Previous Local Plans

3.1 All the above Plans have been reviewed during the preparation of this district wide Local Plan and are now superseded by this Plan.

4. Preparation Process

4.1 The following diagram explains the preparation programme for the original Local Plan which had a plan period to 2001.

4.2 The following diagram explains the preparation process for this Local Plan which has a plan period to 2011.

5. Context of the Plan.

National Guidance

5.1 The Plan has been formulated in accordance with national guidance set out in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) and subsequent Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs), Circulars and Statutory Instruments. Modifications have been introduced to ensure the Plan is as up to date as possible. In particular the provisions of PPG 3 (Housing) of March 2000 have been addressed in this Plan.

Regional Guidance

5.2 The Plan was prepared in line with the Regional Planning Guidance for the South West published by the Government Office for the South West in July 1994. This guidance looked forward to 2011 but was subsequently superceded by new guidance issued in September 2001.

5.3 The new RPG looks forward to 2016 – beyond the time frame of this Local Plan. Whilst the new guidance is acknowledged in this Plan, its provisions will not be fully integrated until the Plan is reviewed and rolled forward to 2016.

The Structure Plan

5.4 This Local Plan has been prepared to be in general conformity with the strategy of Bournemouth, Dorset & Poole Structure Plan which was approved in July 2000 and has an end-date of 2011.

6. Review

6.1 It is intended that this Local Plan will undergo a yearly monitoring exercise to ensure that policies and proposals remain relevant and also to ensure that implementation is co-ordinated. Any future review of the Plan may follow the new procedures outlined in the Planning Statements issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in July 2001, subject to the necessary guidance being issued by the O.D.P.M. This will involve the preparation of a "Local Development Framework", rather than a review of the Local Plan.

7. Format of the Plan

Written Statement
Part 1 - District - Wide Policies

7.1 The complete statutory Local Plan consists of a Written Statement and a Proposals Map. In the event of any discrepancy between the Written Statement and the Proposals Map, the Written Statement shall prevail.

7.2 Those policies which cover the whole District are divided into the following five topics.

1. Strategy and Environment
2. Housing
3. The Economy (Employment/Shopping/Tourism)
4. Community Facilities and Recreation
5. Transportation

Part 2 - Local Area Policies

7.3 These are policies which are specific to an individual settlement or an area of the District.

Policies and Proposals

7.4 Statements which relate to a statutory policy or proposal are highlighted in bold italic text.

Summary Maps and Figures

7.5 These maps have been produced for information only and do not form part of the Statutory Local Plan. They are based on the Ordnance Survey and have been reproduced with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.

Proposals Maps

7.6 Each policy and proposal is identified on these maps. They comprise A3 plans covering the countryside, towns and larger villages. The smaller villages are covered by A4 plans.

Informal Statements for Inset Plans

7.7 Separate informal statements are available for each town or village with an Inset Plan. These are non-statutory documents produced for information purposes only.

CD Rom and the Internet

7.8 The Plan is also available on a CD Rom, and will be made available on the Council’s website.