Lancaster launches major housing consultation

27 May 2014 09:45 Comments (0)

Lancaster City Council is launching an eight-week public consultation on the best way to meet its delivery target of 12,000 homes for the region over the next 20 years.

The consultation will take place between 2 June and 31 July.

The council has defined five potential methods to deliver on its targets, which will be the subject of the consultation. These include a single large urban extension, reviewing the green belt, distributed settlements throughout the district, significant expansion of existing rural settlements or the creation of a new settlement.

A number of drop in events will be held across the district, alongside an online questionnaire, for people to find out more about the options and to have their say on which they feel would be most appropriate.

Cllr Janice Hanson, Lancaster City Council's cabinet member with responsibility for economic regeneration and planning, said: "The scale of the task we are faced with is not to be underestimated. Through the work we have done already we have found sufficient land to accommodate 7,000 new homes, but this still leaves a significant shortage of 5,000. To fill this gap we need to ensure that we are taking the right approach and to do that we need the help of the public.

"I would urge everyone to get involved by either attending one of the consultation events or filling in the online questionnaire."

The next stage will be to consult on the most supported approach with more detailed proposals, ultimately leading to the preparation of a Land Allocations Document.