Local Planners bring draft plan to Sutherland communities
The recently-published draft Local Plan for Sutherland is currently open for consultation and over the coming weeks the Council’s Local Planners will be holding a series of events providing people with the opportunity to view the draft plan for future development, ask questions about it and find out how to make comments.
A Local Plan ‘Surgery’ has been arranged in each Community Council area. Members of the public are invited to drop in to one of the Local Plan Surgeries, anytime between the advertised hours. The Local Plan documents will be available to view and a member of the Local Plan Team will be on hand to provide advice about the Plan and the consultation process.
The following surgeries have been arranged:
Monday 26 November 2007 Scourie- Village Hall 2-7pm
Monday 26 November 2007 Bonar Bridge- Village Hall 2-7pm
Tuesday 27 November 2007 Bettyhill- Village Hall 2-7pm
Wednesday 28 November 2007 Dornoch- West Church Hall 3-7pm
Monday 3 December 2007 Kinlochbervie- Ceilidh House 2-7pm
Monday 3 December 2007 Durness- Village Hall 2-7pm
Wednesday 5 December 2007 Lairg- Community Centre 2-7pm
Thursday 6 December 2007 Helmsdale- Community Centre 2-7pm
Monday 10 December 2007 Melvich- Village Hall 2-7pm
Monday 10 December 2007 Golspie- Community Centre 2-7pm
Tuesday 11 December 2007 Pittentrail, Rogart- Village Hall 2-6:45pm
Wednesday 12 December 2007 Strathy- Village Hall 2-7pm
Wednesday 12 December 2007 Brora- Community Centre 2-7pm
Thursday 13 December 2007 Ardgay- Village Hall 2-7pm
Tuesday 18 December 2007 Lochinver- Village Hall 2-7pm
Wednesday 19 December 2007 Tongue- Village Hall 2-7pm
Thursday 20 December 2007 Edderton- Village Hall 2-7pm
David Cowie, Principal Planner, said: “The Council is required to publish the Plan for consultation and it is therefore currently available for people to view. We find it helpful though to provide people with the opportunity to speak to us on a one-to-one basis about how the Draft Plan affects them. At the surgeries we can do that face-to-face with the Plan in front of us. We hope that people who want to know more about the Plan and would find it useful to do this will take the opportunity to attend one of the events. We are asking Community Councils to help us publicise the surgeries locally and we are grateful for their assistance with that.”
The Deposit Draft Local Plan documents- including an accompanying Draft Environmental Report- are also available for the public to view at The Highland Council Service Points, Public Libraries and Post Offices in Sutherland throughout the consultation period. The documents have also been placed at the Area Planning and Building Standards Office (The Meadows, Dornoch), at the Planning and Development Service Headquarters (Glenurquhart Road, Inverness), on The Highland Council website and on the mobile libraries operating in Sutherland.
Representations on the Local Plan Deposit Draft and comments on the Draft Environmental Report should be sent to the Director of Planning & Development, The Highland Council, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness IV3 5NX or e-mailed to sutherlandlp@highland.gov.uk They must arrive no later than 5.00pm on Friday 1 February 2008. The Council is also now writing to people who live close to the sites which are proposed for development in the Plan. This is an extra step that the Council is taking to try to raise awareness of the Local Plan in communities, bringing to people’s attention the proposals and the opportunity to comment. The Council will carefully consider the comments received- and may propose changes to the Plan as a result- before deciding on the final Plan.
Mr Cowie added: “I would be interested to receive comments on the principle of development on the sites shown in the Plan, whether they be positive or negative. It would also be useful if people could suggest anything that would make the proposal more acceptable to them – for example, by improving access arrangements or if landscaping were to be put in place. We can then consider whether, if the site is identified for development in the Local Plan, these improvements can be formally required of a developer at the time that any development takes place.”
Members of the public seeking further information about the Sutherland Local Plan may also contact the Local Plan team by telephone, e-mail or post: