Core Strategy Preferred Option - Public consultation 12 November 2009 to 15 January 2010
The event is not currently available for consultation.
What do you want Harrow to be like by 2026?
The Council is drawing up a new plan for the Borough called the Local Development Framework (LDF). The LDF is made up of a series of planning documents, the most important of which is the Core Strategy. The purpose of the Core Strategy is to set out where, when and how the Borough will develop and change over the next fifteen years and beyond. It is to be developed in consultation with the community and stakeholders and is to set out a clear vision and spatial strategy for the future of places within Harrow. Once adopted, the Core Strategy will set the context for all other planning policy documents the Council intends to prepare and will be used in making decisions about planning applications, services and investment in infrastructure.
In June 2008 we asked for your views on two alternative options. With the benefit of your comments, along with findings of our evidence base studies and emerging national and regional policy, we have now drawn up a more detailed version of the Core Strategy and would like your views on this document and whether you think our preferred approach is the right one to pursue.
Why do we need to plan for change in Harrow?
Harrow is constantly changing. This includes changes to the make-up of our population as a result of with people living longer, the number of births and deaths changing in any one-year, as well as the number of people that move into or out of the Borough. These changes can have a significant impact on the types of services people need, such as healthcare and schools as well as the types of housing that need to be provided.
In addition to changes in population, there are also long-term as well as more immediate trends that can bring about a change in Harrow.
In terms of economic trends, the decline in manufacturing and the increase in service sectors has an impact on the types of buildings businesses want and where they want to be located. This is further influenced by changes in technology, such as the internet and better broadband, which now enables people and businesses to work from almost anywhere without the need for an office. The recent economic downturn has resulted in the number of residents in unemployed increasing, businesses closing or relocating, and tighter bank lending making it harder for people to get onto the property ladder or to move to a different type of property that better suits their changing lifestyle.
In terms of environmental changes, we are all aware of the threat of climate change and the possible impacts of this on future extreme weather conditions, more frequent and increased flooding events, water shortages etc and what these could mean to our daily lives.
The Core Strategy needs to respond to and manage these changes. We have gathered detailed evidence base studies about the possible impact of these changes that give a clear picture of those areas at greatest risk from flooding, those aspects of our environment we need to protect, the number and types of housing we need to be providing, and how much different businesses sectors are likely to grow or shrink. This allows us to consider what these all mean in terms of local jobs and skills, the infrastructure and services that will be needed to support the economy and provide residents with a high quality of life, as well as how these might change the look of our town centres, industrial areas and our suburban communities which our residents value and enjoy.
How to get involved
You can read and comment on the document online by clicking the button below. At certain sections of the document are "comment" buttons to the right of the text. If you click on these a question will appear asking for your views on that section with a space to fill in any additional comments. The first question is in section 4.1. There is also a comment button near the end of the document which gives you the chance to comment on the document as a whole. Once you press the submit button for the question the response will be submitted to the Council for consideration and you can continue reading and move on to the next question.
Please note that once you press submit and continue browsing the document, the comment you submitted will not appear on the "view comment" tab until the Council has processed it.
Alternatively you can click the supporting documents tab below and download a word version of the questionnaire. To submit this please download it and save it to your computer, and then fill in as much as you wish. Then send it via e-mail to: ldfconsultation@harrow.gov.uk Please remember to save the questionnaire to your computer before attaching it to an e-mail.
A downloadable version of the Core Strategy is also available from the supporting documents tab alongside the Sustainability Appraisal of the Core Strategy.
