While something called a Local Plan sounds quite boring and dry, it’s vital for the future of the county as far as jobs, services and homes go.

This is the document that collects all the information about the age breakdown in our towns, villages and small villages; and the services and housing they are going to need as the population changes. It also talks about nature and wildlife, the county’s heritage and environmental issues, as well as how any new housing or other developments might alter the character of where people live.

Northumberland’s Labour Group leader Scott Dickinson said: “We were promised a new Local Plan by the previous leader Peter Jackson. He also promised that developers would not have time to ride roughshod over Northumberland.

“But here we are, a few years later, being presented with another complicated document, very poorly communicated, making it difficult for residents to participate.

“We know that, nationally, the Tory government is systematically taking the right of local people to have a say over development in their area away from them.

“It’s very easy to dismiss weighty documents like this as just council red tape or bureaucracy, but they form the basis of everything the county will do for the next 20 years. It’s vital we all have our say.

“As an effective opposition, we will be questioning the council leadership on every aspect of the Local Plan. We will continue to listen to our constituents and do our best to reflect their opinions to the council leadership.”

You can view the documents here:

https://northumberland-consult.objective.co.uk/…/main-mods

This consultation runs from Wednesday 9 June 2021 until 5pm on Wednesday 4 August 2021.