There’s still time to make your views known by responding to the current phase of consultation on our Local Plan
Winchester City Council’s consultation on the Strategic Issues and Priorities document for the new Local Plan will close on Monday 12 April 2021.
Local people are being reminded to make sure they have their say. The Council wants to hear from the broadest possible range of residents and businesses, as well as community groups and parish councils.
The new Local Plan will shape the future development of the district. Focussing on carbon neutrality is at the centre of the consultation, whilst addressing the need for housing, jobs, shopping, transport, other infrastructure and community facilities, as well as how best to protect our rich built and natural heritage.
Local people are warmly invited to register for the final public event which takes place this Saturday, 20 March, at 10.30am. To sign up to attend please visit the dedicated Local Plan website.
A number of specialist, virtual stakeholder events have also been hosted, including a session focussing on the theme ‘Living Well’ held on Monday 15 March.
The key points that were raised at this event were the importance of access to open space and gardens, the strong link between the environment (including air quality) on both mental and physical health, the need for active travel to improve health and the importance of good quality adaptable homes.
The dedicated Local Plan website includes all the consultation documents and has a link to feedback questionnaire which you can complete to make your views known to the council. The consultation will close on 12 April.
Cllr Jackie Porter, Winchester City Council Cabinet Member for Built Environment and Wellbeing, said:
“We have had a good response to the consultation so far with a wide range of people and organisations attending our Local Plan events. We have reached almost 100,000 people on social media, and had 1,721 post engagements on Facebook and Instagram alone. We are working through all these comments but I am encouraging everyone to fill out the full questionnaire on the website and make their points via the survey.
We will be taking on board all comments made, questions asked and ideas shared as the council goes forward to draft the Local Plan to 2038. Please don’t lose your chance to have a say. I hope that anyone who hasn’t yet had a look at the website and completed a questionnaire will do so before the closing date. We value everyone’s views, so it’s really important that we hear from as many people as possible.”