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Spatial development strategy

The East of England Development Plan was created as a result of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The act transferred responsibility for strategic land use and transport planning from county to regional level. As a result, county structure plans were abolished, and replaced by Regional Development Plans (also referred to as the Regional Spatial Strategy or RSS). It is the stated aim of the coalition government to abolish the East of England Development Plan; however, until this takes place, the RSS remains the most up-to-date comprehensive document framing future development plans for the whole of the Essex area.

The plan covers several areas:

  • Key urban centres for growth and regeneration.
  • The amount and geographic distribution of new housing.
  • Patterns of economic development, town centres and retailing.
  • Priorities for the environment, including climate change, countryside, coast, natural resources, nature conservation, landscape and heritage, and water resources.
  • Transport, including key transport interchanges, new highways, passenger transport, cycling and walking.
  • Minerals extraction and waste management.
  • Sub-regional policies for four key urban centres and key parts of the region.

The RSS provides guidance at a high level, to inform the preparation of local development frameworks, local transport plans and other forward planning documents.

The introduction of the RSS saw the phasing out of the Essex and Southend Structure plan. However, a limited number of policies from the structure plan have been carried over and continue to apply until such time as they are replaced by local development frameworks adopted by district planning authorities.

The policies carried over, identified by their category numbers within the plan, are as follows:

  • NR3 – Extension of Suffolk coasts/ heaths AONB (in Tendring district)
  • CC1 – Undeveloped coast: coastal protection belt
  • BIW9 – Airport development
  • LRT6 – Coastal water recreation
  • EG1 – Proposals for new power stations
  • MIN4 – Sterilisation and safeguarding of minerals sites