Draft Local Plan - Preferred Options

Preferred Options (July 2018)

Work is continuing on a new Local Plan for the North York Moors, which will cover the period 2016-35. Policies within the development plan are the main determinant when deciding applications for planning permission.

We have now completed our 'Preferred Options' version of the Plan. This is the first full draft of the plan. An eleven week period of consultation on this version ended on 12 October 2018.

View the 'Preferred Options' Draft Local Plan

View the Preferred Options Draft Maps.

A twelve page summary document is also available, explaining the main proposed changes to current policy.

View the 'Preferred Options' Summary Document

Topic Papers

The draft Plan is supported by a series of topic papers which explain the background to how we developed the policies in the draft Plan and sets out in more detail some of the alternative options we considered. These are:

Updates to Supplementary Planning Guidance

As part of the plan revisions we are also updating two of our current 'Supplementary Planning Documents' (SPDs). Updates are most minor amendments so that our current set of SPDs will support the new Local Plan or to refer to current national policy guidance. The two main changes are new advice on the use of UPVC windows in Conservation Areas (Part two of the Design Guide) and further clarification on the acceptability of wind turbines on open moorland (Renewable Energy SPD). It is intended that the current Housing SPD will be withdrawn on adoption of the new Local Plan in early 2020. We consulted on a schedule of changes in Autumn 2018.

The Design Guide SPD

Current Guidance	Proposed Amendments
Part 1 - General Principles	Schedule of Proposed Changes
Part 2 - Extensions and Alterations to Dwellings	Schedule of Proposed Changes
Part 3 - Trees and Landscapes	Schedule of Proposed Changes
Part 4 - Reuse of Traditional Rural Buildings	Schedule of Proposed Changes
Part 5 - New Agricultural Buildings	Schedule of Proposed Changes

Renewable Energy SPD

View the current Renewable Energy Supplementary Planning Document

View the schedule of proposed changes to the Renewable Energy Supplementary Planning Document

Evidence Base

In addition we have produced or commissioned several new technical documents. These form part of the 'evidence base' for the new Local Plan. All technical documents can be found on our Evidence Base page. The following documents are newly published:

The Sustainability Appraisal (July 2018), which has assessed all policies in this plan to see if they are the best means of delivering development which strikes the right balance between environmental, economic and social objectives;
A Habitats Regulation Assessment or HRA, (July 2018), which is undertaken to make sure our policies do not have any harmful impacts on key protected wildlife habitats;
The Strategic Land Availability Assessment or SHLAA (October 2018), which looks at available land for housing, and the likelihood of it coming forward for development. Individual site assessments are linked to below:

Draft Land Availability Assessment, Appendix 6 Site Assessments. Part 1 - Battersby to Coxwold

Draft Land Availability Assessment, Appendix 6 Site Assessments. Part 2 - Easington to Helmsley

Draft Land Availability Assessment, Appendix 6 Site Assessments. Part 1 - Hinderwell to Runswick Bay

Draft Land Availability Assessment, Appendix 6 Site Assessments. Part 1 - Sandsend to West Ayton

(Note - Appendix 6 documents are large files and may take a while to download.)

Draft Land Availability Assessment - A list of submitted sites with outcomes has also been prepared.

An Open Space Assessment (July 2018), which looked at the quantity and quality of sports and recreational open space within settlements the National Park and assessed whether any new spaces are needed.

The following evidence base documents were recently produced:

The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (November 2017), which looked at whether any particular areas of the National Park are susceptible to flooding;

The Strategic Housing Market Assessment or SHMA (May 2016), which looked at housing need and demand.

Two futher studies will be available shortly:

The Local Plan Viability Appraisal (October 2018), which will looked at whether our policies are setting any requirements that would prevent new development from being delivered will be available shortly (likely to be the end of August. We will notify consultees when it is published).

The Landscape Assessment (Late 2018), which categorised landscapes into particular types, describes their features, overall character and sets out how sensitive they may be to new development will be available in the Autumn. This is an update to and exisiting Landscape Character Appraisal dating back to 2003.

What Happens Next?

We are planning to produce what's known as the 'publication version' of the Local Plan in April 2019. This will be the Authority's final draft plan, and it will be subject to consultation. Comments collected during this consultation will then submitted, alongside the draft plan to the Government for independent examination. We expect the public examination of the draft will happen in around July 2019, followed by final adoption in March 2020.

Previous Consultations

This is the fourth time we have asked for views on what should be in the new Local Plan. The text below details and links to previous rounds of consultation. Details of previous stages can be found using the following links:

Tranquillity, A Sense of Remoteness and Dark Skies at Night (December 2017)

Current Thinking (October 2017)

First Steps (September 2016).