Kirklees Together

A full update to the Local Plan has just been approved at today’s Full Council meeting, following a recommendation from Cabinet last month.

Why are we updating the Local Plan?

We adopted the Local Plan back in 2019 – before the announcement of the Climate Emergency, and before the Covid-19 pandemic and all the impacts we’ve seen on our local and national economy since.

The Local Plan underwent a full review earlier this year, taking into account lots of key issues which are closely linked to growth and development – both in Kirklees and nationally.  These factors include climate change, environmental strategy, transport strategy, housing growth and the economy.

Based on this review, Cabinet recommended a full update to the Local Plan on 17 October, and this has just been approved by the Full Council.

What happens next?

Now that a full update has been approved, the process will involve lots of consultation wih the public.  We’ll also be considering, in detail, all of those many impacting factors that were raised during the review.

To make sure local people and businesses have every opportunity to get involved, we’ll be updating our Local Development Scheme – a timetable outlining the key stages of the process, and when members of the public are able to give their input.

We’ll also prepare an updated Statement of Community Involvement, which will go into detail about how local communities are going to be engaged.

Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance & Regeneration, says:

“When we first launched the Kirklees Local Plan back in 2019, we could never have imagined what the next five years would have in store.  This update will be time-consuming and must be well thought-out, but I can’t overstate its importance – because we need it to reflect how much has changed and where Kirklees is now.

“Now more than ever, we need to make sure that the strategy we’re working to takes into account the colossal changes which have taken place since the Local Plan was originally adopted, so we can deliver our ambitions for Kirklees.  We’ll be engaging with the public every step of the way on this, because what we’re working for is the future of our district.

“We have some huge challenges on our hands, but there is also huge potential.  The Local Plan is about how we work within our current constraints to deliver that potential – strengthening our local economy, creating much-needed housing, and bringing huge benefits for everyone who lives and works in Kirklees.  The impacts of this work will be felt for not just years but decades to come.”