Implications of government announcements on the production of the Core Strategy The Coalition Government has made a commitment to abolish Regional Strategies, introduce a National Planning Policy Framework and implement the Localism Bill. Decision making powers including the amount of housing required in local authority areas will be returned to local councils. These changes are having significant implications for the Local Development Framework (LDF) and as such are being carefully considered before the LDF can be progressed to the next stage. The progression of Ashfield's LDF has been delayed whilst the implications of these changes are fully understood. The Government has made it clear that ‘the LDF process should not be abandoned and the abolition of Regional Strategies is not a signal for local authorities to stop making plans for their area’. Local authorities are being encouraged to review their plans as quickly as possible. This is what Ashfield District Council is proposing to do. October 2011

The District of Ashfield is changing. By 2026 significant population and housing growth is envisaged. The population of Ashfield is projected to rise from 115,900 in 2007 to 131,000 by 2026 and new homes will need to be provided. New jobs and retail/leisure facilities will also have to be provided. The district council is embarking on the preparation of a series of planning documents, collectively known as the Ashfield Development Framework (ADF), to guide growth and change in the district over the next 15/20 years. 

The district council wants to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to shape the future development of the district and we need your input into this process. We carried out 2 public consultations last year on the Core Strategy Issues and Options and the Spatial Growth Options and have more planned this year. This is your chance to get involved in the future planning of your area. If you live in, work in or visit the Ashfield area then this will affect you.

The Preferred Option Consultation

Follow this link to view the comments.

The Preferred Option consultation has now ended. The comments that have been already submitted are important to the LDF process and will be considered and, where appropriate, included in future documents.

Issues and Options Consultation

The report of all comments and Ashfield's response to the comments is now available.
Download the Issues and Option Consultation Response Report and the Record of Public Consultation Discussions Report

For further information please email ldf@ashfield-dc.gov.uk

The main components of the Ashfield Development Framework are:

• The Core Strategy
• Development Control Documents
• Site Specific Allocations
• The Proposals Map

Diagram of the LDF process

All documents produced under the Ashfield Development Framework will be subject to a Sustainability Appraisal (SA), which tests each potential policy to see how well it performs in terms of sustainable development.