Where are we Now?

The Proposed Submission Document was the 3rd stage in the preparation of the Swindon Borough Core Strategy. The Proposed Submission took on board comments raised at previous stages, along with the progress made on the evidence base and other Council strategies. It also has regard to the Government's proposed changes to the draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

Where are We Going?

Following the consultation on the Proposed Submission Document, the Council will submit the Core Strategy to the Secretary of State for an independent examination by a Government Planning Inspector. The Inspector will consider the soundness of the Plan and will then prepare a binding report that sets out the final version of the Core Strategy. The Council will be required to adopt this final version of the Core Strategy.

What Have we Done so Far

Proposed Submission

The Proposed Submission document was published for consultation on 27th July 2009 for eight weeks.

A summary of representations made at Proposed Submission Stage can be reviewed below:

Summary of Responses (1.3 MB)

List of Representors to the Proposed Submission (25 KB)

The following documents can be viewed below:

Swindon Borough Core Strategy and Development Management Policies Proposed Submission -

Main Report (4.9 MB)

Errata Sheet for Appendix 1 (12.6KB)

Appendices (1.5 MB)

Swindon Borough Core Strategy Main Proposals Map (4.0 MB)

Inset Proposals Map (3.05 MB)

Errata Sheet for Proposals Map (138KB)

Implementataion and Monitoring Plan (2.4 MB)

Swindon Borough Core Strategy  - Sustainability Appriaisal (SA) Report (4 MB)

Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) - Final Report (621 KB)

Diversity Impact Assessment

Statement of Consultation (635KB)

Summary Leaflet (614KB)

Public Notice (17KB)

Copies of all the documents are available to view at Swindon Borough Council offices at Premier House and Wat Tyler House during office hours and at all libraries during opening hours.

Evidence Base

A list of and links to the evidence base can be viewed by clicking on the following link:

Evidence Base

Preferred Options

A summary of representations made at the Preferred Options stage and Officers Response to them can be viewed below:

Summary of Preferred Option Responses (1.4 MB)

The Preferred Options Paper was published for consultation on March 17th 2008.

The Preferred Options Paper and other associated documents can be downloaded as pdf files

Pt 1 - Vision, Issues and Objectives (1,484KB)

Pt 2 - Preferred and Alternative Options (1,657KB)

Pt 3 - Implementation, Delivery and Monitoring (654KB)

Pt 4 - Appendices (2,835KB)

Summary Leaflet (208KB)

Sustainability Appraisal (798KB)

Habitats Regulations Assessment (673KB)

Diversity Impact Assessment (82KB)

Please find attached an errata sheet to the Core Strategy Preferred Options Paper:

Errata Sheet

Issues and Options

Taking into account stakeholder responses received, together with consideration of the Evidence Base, including corporate priorities and the Draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy, the Borough Council published an Issues and Options Paper for consultation between April and May 2007.

A summary leaflet, the main document and its associated sustainability statement to the Issues and Options Paper can be downloaded as PDF files:

Summary Leaflet (582KB)

Issues and Options Paper (2,021KB)

Sustainability Statement (325KB)

About the Core Strategy

The Borough Council is preparing a Core Strategy for the Borough in accordance with the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The Act abolished Structure Plans and Local Plans and replaced them with Regional Spatial Strategies (RSSs) and Development Plan Documents (DPDs).

The Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West  (RSS) is currently being reviewed to 2026 and will set out the broad strategies and policies for the region for the next twenty years, including sub-regional policies for areas such as Swindon. The DPDs produced by local authorities must conform with the RSS. An informal inquiry, the Examination in Public, into the Draft RSS took place in Exeter from April to July 2007.

The Panel Report on the draft RSS was published 10 January 2008 and submitted to the Secretary of State. Following submission; Proposed Changes to the draft RSS were published for consultation on 22 July 2008. Following this consultation the Secretary of State intended to publish the final RSS in June 2009. However following the issuing of a high court judgement on the previously issued RSS for the East of England that it failed to meet certain requirements of the Strategic Environmental Appraisal directive; the Government announced on 25 September 2009 that, it would carry out a further appraisal of whether it's proposals for the RSS for South West England are the most sustainable way forward for the region. Further information is available on the Government Office for the South West website: www.gos.gov.uk/gosw

The Core Strategy is the key document of the portfolio of local development documents (LDDs) that will make up the Local Development Framework (LDF) for Swindon. It will set out over-arching planning policies and identify broad locations for new housing and employment development, transport infrastructure and areas where development should be constrained.

In setting out its vision the Core Strategy needs to take account of corporate objectives, in particular those of the Sustainable Community Strategy. The Swindon Strategic Partnership (SSP)has the role of delivering the Sustainable Community Strategy and implementing the Swindon Local Area Agreement (the delivery plan for achieving the Sustainable Community Strategy. As a "spatial" planning document, the Core Strategy will establish the policies required to deliver the Council's vision, its regeneration objectives and regional planning agenda. A key function of the Core Strategy is to provide the spatial expression of the land use elements of the Sustainable Community Strategy, within the overarching context of the RSS.

Wider consultation is also needed to ascertain how stakeholders and the wider public would like to see Swindon progressing in the future. It is a feature of the new system that the involvement of community interests , stakeholders, and commercial interest will be "front-loaded" so that these groups can be actively involved at an early stage in the plan-making process. Stakeholders, in part through the Local Policy Forum , and the wider public through a newsletter and questionnaire have therefore been engaged to establish their views on the direction the Core Strategy should take.

This web page was last updated on Friday 11 December 2009.