The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires all Local Planning Authorities to prepare Local Development Frameworks to replace the old Local Plan system. The purpose of this change is to facilitate the preparation of policies and proposals to ensure that they reflect contemporary local needs.
Melton Borough Council commissioned us to undertake a series of tasks in connection with its planning strategy.
They asked us to carry out a Landscape Character Assessment of the borough, to form part of the Melton Local Development Framework. In addition, they asked us to prepare a Historic
Townscape Character Assessment and to identify specific local landscape areas that could qualify under the government’s planning policy statement ‘Sustainable Development in Rural Areas’.
As a separate task, the borough council commissioned us to help identify and evaluate areas of separation between towns and villages in the borough. The purpose was to establish the criteria for defining these areas of separation, ultimately with the goal of preventing urban sprawl.
Our long experience of planning issues gives us a deep understanding of how the law has evolved and how it is applied nationwide under the current regime. This can be invaluable to councils whose knowledge may be largely restricted to their own region.