Woking Borough Council

Woking 2027

Welcome to the Woking 2027 website, where you can access information about how we are planning for the future of Woking Borough.

Latest News

In March 2012 the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was introduced by Government. This sets out planning policies and how they should be applied, it replaces all previous Government Planning Policy Statements and Guidance, some of which informed the preparation of the Core Strategy.

The NPPF came out halfway through the Core Strategy Hearings. The Inspector has requested that a further consultation is carried out to consider if the NPPF affects the content of the Core Strategy. Comments can be submitted until Saturday 26 May. The letter relating to this can be viewed.

This consultation is only related to the NPPF and the implications that it has on the Core Strategy. It is not concerning any matters of the Core Strategys soundness or any other issues other than the new guidance.

The majority of Core Strategy policies now carry significant weight and can be used for the purposes of development management and any other planning decision, there is more information on the Core Strategy page.

Core Strategy Examination

Following the Council's submission of the Core Strategy Publication Document to the Secretary of State on 16 December 2011 the Examination to consider the soundness of the Woking Borough Council Core Strategy Development Plan Document took place from Tuesday 20 March 2012. The Examination remains open until the Council receives the report from the Inspector.

All documents relating to the Examination are on the Examination Documents webpage.

The Secretary of State appointed an independent Inspector, Mr Andrew Seaman to conduct the Examination. An independent Programme Officer working under the Inspectors direction was appointed to be responsible for organising the programming and all procedural matters.

The Inspector held a Pre-Hearing Meeting (PHM) on Thursday 9th February 2012, in the Council Chamber (as for the Hearings above) at 2.00 pm. Notes from this meeting, along with all other Examination documents can be viewed here. Please note the PHM is essentially a procedural meeting and did not consider the detailed merits of any representation.

Programme Officer: Mr Chris Banks

C/O Banks Solutions, 21 Glendale Close, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4GR

Tel: 01403 253148 Mobile: 07817 322750

Email: chris.banks@zen.co.uk

All of the Core Strategy Documents have evolved with extensive public involvement details of this process are available to view here.

Woking's LDF will made up of a number of Local Development Documents (LDDs):

  • Core Strategy Development Plan Document - the main document within the LDF which will set out the strategic framework for new development in the Borough. Consultation on the Core Strategy publication document ran for nine-weeks until Friday 23 September.

  • Site Allocations Development Plan Document will allocate land for housing, employment and other land uses to help deliver the objectives of the Core Strategy.

  • Development Management Policies Development Plan Document - will include criteria based policies covering issues such as parking, noise, design and access, retail changes of use, advertisements and shop fronts and tree preservation, for example

  • Woking Town Centre Area Action Plan - will provide the detail of how the objectives of the Core Strategy as they relate to the town centre will be delivered and implemented

  • Supplementary Planning Documents which contain background information relating to particular sites or issues established in Development Plan Documents including affordable housing, climate change, design,

  • The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) - this sets out how the public will be involved in the process of preparing and reviewing all LDDs and decisions on planning applications. An updated SCI was adopted by the Council on 15 July 2011.

  • The Local Development Scheme (LDS) - the Council's annual schedule for preparing LDDs and getting them agreed by Government.