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Planning PolicyDocument cover collection

The local plan and local development framework

Allerdale Borough Council is responsible for the preparation of a Local Plan for our area excluding the Lake District National Park. The Local Plan is only adopted as Council planning policy after extensive public participation and consultation.

The Allerdale Local Plan was adopted in November 1999. It is necessary to keep such policies under review. The First Alteration to the Local Plan was originally published in September 2002. Since then there has been a second deposit period, a public inquiry and the Inspector's Report was received in late 2005. Post Inquiry Modifications were published in early 2006 and the alterations adopted in July 2006.

New legislation replaces Local Plans with Local Development Frameworks (LDF) but the Local Plan will remain valid until the new Framework is adopted. The Council has commenced work on the LDF and intends to complete it by 2013. The first part of the LDF will be a 'Core Strategy' which was published for early consultation in 2006.  More details can be found in the Local Development Framework section.

The Lake District National Park Authority is the Local Planning Authority for that part of our area that lies within the national park and as such deals with planning applications and the production of the Local Plan and LDF for that area.

Statement of Community Involvement

The Council formally adopted the Statement of Community Involvement in March 2010. This is the first document of the Local Development Framework and sets out how the Council proposes to involve the local community in the production of Local Development Documents.

Cockermouth Front Runners Project

Allerdale has been successful in its bid to have Cockermouth selected as one of 20 vanguard schemes for the Government's new Neighbourhood Planning proposals. See Cockermouth Frontrunners for more information.

Policy Team

Currently there are 7 members of the Planning Policy team. We are based in the Planning Department at Allerdale House and are contactable via the details below.

Our main task is to implement the change from the old Local Plan system to the emerging Local Development Framework.

Latest News

23rd December 2011 - The Council has produced its Annual Monitoring Report for the period covering 2010/11.

26 October 2011 - The Cumbria Renewable Energy Capacity and Deployment Study has been produced.

23 August 2011 - The Council has updated its 5 Year Land Supply document.

19th April 2011 - An update to the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), carried out in response to the November 2009 floods, is now available.

24th December 2010 - The Council has produced its Annual Monitoring Report for the period covering 09/10.

16th December 2010 - The Council has published the first stage of its Infrastructure Delivery Plan. This document assesses provision of various types of infrastructure across the borough.

19th October 2010 - The Council has updated its 5 Year Land Supply document.

27th November 2009 - The Council has produced a revised discussion paper regarding the spatial options we are currently exploring for the Core Strategy. We would welcome any comments you may have on the contents of this document.

10th September 2009 - The Council has collated a wide range of planning related data to serve as a key part of the evidence base for the emerging development plan. This information has been presented in the Allerdale Atlas.

12th June 2009 - The Local Development Scheme (LDS) has been updated. This is the timetable for LDF production.

5th May 2009 - The West Cumbria Retail Study has been completed.

8th January 2009 - The Council, in partnership with Copeland Borough Council has produced the West Cumbria Employment Land & Premises Study. This study will form part of the evidence base for the emerging LDF and will help shape planning policy for the use and allocation of employment land.    

16th October 2008 - The Regeneration team has produced a video explaining the process of the new planning system. The video, entitled Introducing the LDF, can be viewed on the Local Development Framework page.

7th April 2008 - The Allerdale Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) has now been completed. This document shows those areas of the borough at possible risk from flooding.

25th March 2008 - The Council formally adopted the Cockermouth Conservation Area Design Guide Supplementary Document on the 5th March 2008. There now follows a 3 month period in which any persons aggrieved by the SPD may apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision to adopt

28th February 2008 - The Council has published an Open Space Study, looking at recreation spaces across the borough. More details can be found on our Evidence Base page.

15th February 2008 - The Council formally adopted the Wind Energy Supplementary Planning Document on the 23rd January 2008. There now follows a 3 month period in which any persons aggrieved by the SPD may apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision to adopt.


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Contact us

 01900 702702
 01900 702507

Allerdale Borough Council
Allerdale House, Workington, Cumbria,
CA14 3YJ