All comments made on the consultation have now been published and are available for you to read.
Read published comments on the Draft Plan.
Read published comments on the Candidate Sites.
Changes to where the published comments are hosted
Comments submitted to the council through the consultation were previously hosted on Citizen Space. The link to Citizen Space was previously displayed on this page and on all acknowledgement letters and emails. This link should no longer be used.
We have now moved all written representations received to this consultation to Essex Open Data. We did this because some details within published comments couldn't be displayed properly on Citizen Space. This includes maps, graphics and photos, which can now be fully accessed on Essex Open Data. There is also a better search functionality on Essex Open Data.
This change means that some information that you have already viewed may now be different. We advise you to visit the new webpages, linked above, where you can view all representations submitted to the MLP Review consultation. This includes searching for all comments made against an individual site.
Responses are published under the site or plan question that they were submitted under. This means that some comments are noted against the incorrect site or plan question. A final set of responses, along with the key issues and council's response will be published in due course.
Information will be published in line with:
- Freedom of Information Act
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Essex County Council Privacy Notice
A further public consultation
We are currently assessing all the comments received and will make amendments to the Plan and Site Assessments accordingly. We will also present a draft list of Preferred Sites alongside reports justifying the draft list and how your comments were taken into account. This will then undergo a further public consultation.
It is not currently possible to provide a precise date for this consultation as this will depend on the extent of the issues received and the nature of the amendments required. A substantial number of representations were received to the Regulation 18 consultation, and these are currently being assessed.
It was previously noted that following the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024, the Chief Planner required all local planning authorities to produce an updated local development scheme within 12 weeks of the publication of the NPPF (by 6th March 2025) to inform when the next consultation is take place. It has since been confirmed that this deadline does not apply to Minerals and Waste Planning Authorities such as Essex County Council. Nonetheless, an updated Minerals and Waste Development Scheme is being prepared, and this website will be updated accordingly.