New SAMDev Consultation Announced

With the recent planning applications for large-scale residential developments some local residents have had to learn a new vocabulary which includes acronyms like SAMDev. Standing for Site Allocations and Management of Development the SAMDev Plan is being developed to put in place management policies for County Council Planning Department when assessing new developments.
Today (1 Feb. 2013) the Council has announced an 8 week public consultation which will end on 28 March. The consultation is being carried out in regard to a) 16 draft Development Management policies and b) examples of potential settlement strategies for the market towns and key centres and Community Hubs and Community Clusters.
It should be noted that it does not contain any information relating to any specific site allocations for future development. It therefore does not have any direct relevance to any particular site in the Hodnet area, but will in time become the standard by which any applications are dealt with.
Local residents who wish to participate in the consultation can find the relevant documentation and other relevant information on the Planning Policy section of the council’s website here: Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan consultation.
This page explains:

What will the draft Development Management Policies be used for?
When adopted these policies will sit alongside the 20 policies in the Core Strategy and will replace the remaining 117 ‘saved’ policies from the previous Local and Structure Plans leading to a radically simplified planning policy framework against which planning applications will be judged.

Later it adds:

The key purpose of the SAMDev Plan is to:

  • Identify sustainable growth targets for Shropshire’s market towns
  • Identify Community Hubs and Community Clusters in the rural area where some further development will happen
  • Identify appropriate sites for future housing and employment development in market towns, community hubs and community clusters
  • Provide additional Development Management policies which can be used in the consideration of planning applications

Comments can be submitted to the Council via an on-line survey, email or post. If anyone wishes to see hard copies of the consultation documents they are available for viewing at six locations across Shropshire, the nearest being Shirehall and Guildhall in Shrewsbury or Edinburgh House in Wem during normal office hours.