In September 2004, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act was passed and brought in a fundamentally new development plan system. This means that local authorities are replacing their existing local plans with local development frameworks (LDF).

Contact details for the Development Plan Team:
Tel: (01827) 709279, 709278, 709384 or 709275
Fax: (01827) 709277
Email: developmentplan@tamworth.gov.uk

Tamworth Local Plan

The Tamworth Local Plan was adopted on 6th July 2006 and under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the policies remained in force for three years. The Council had to apply to the Secretary of State for agreement to save any of these beyond 5th July 2009 and an application was made in November 2008 to save 27 policies. The Secretary of State agreed to the Council’s request and issued a direction to this effect. You can access the Local Plan page here for further information and to download the Saved Policy Local Plan.

Local Development Framework

The local development framework (or LDF) is a collection of documents which collectively deliver the planning strategy for an area. The key document in Tamworth's LDF is the Core Strategy, which is a borough wide plan identifying the key strategies and policies for future development. When it is adopted it will replace the Local Plan. The Core Strategy will be supplemented by other development plan documents (DPDs) that set out specific policies and supplementary planning documents (SPDs) which expand these policies or provide additional detail.

What documents will we prepare?

Please click on the document names to link through to the relevant web pages:

A Local Development Scheme (LDS) sets out the Council's programme for the production of Local Development Documents over the next three years.

The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) sets out how the Council will involve the public in the preparation of the Local Development Framework and planning application decisions.

A Core Strategy will set out the area-specific vision, objectives and strategic policies in the borough.

An Allocations Development Plan Document will identify sites for future development including sites for housing and employment.

A Sustainability Appraisal (SA) will assess the social, economic and environmental effects of policies and proposals included in a Local Development Document. A Sustainability Appraisal will be prepared alongside the Core Strategy. It may also be necessary to prepare an appraisal in conjunction with a Supplementary Planning Document.

An Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) will be prepared each year in December providing details of policy implementation and progress on Local Development Document preparation.

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) will be produced as necessary.

The current timetable is to produce the Publication Core Strategy in summer 2011, with submission in the autumn and examination in spring 2012. Adoption is expected in summer 2012.  Work on a range of SPDs is due to commence in summer 2011.

Evidence Base

We have been collecting evidence since 2006 and as well as producing a main summary document, we have undertaken a large number of individual studies around different issues.  You can access the evidence base documents here.

Update on Regional Spatial Strategy

The Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands was revoked by the Government on 6th July 2010. The Secretary of State's statement about the revocation and the Council's response to the revocation, which was considered at Cabinet on the 20th October 2010, can be accessed here.

Cala Homes challenged this ruling in the High Court and on the 10 November 2010, it was announced that the revocation was unlawful. The effect of this is to reinstate the Regional Spatial Strategy as part of the development Plan. The Government still intends to revoke the RSS and will be progressing the Localism Bill through Parliament later in 2011.