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Somerset launches ‘Call For Sites’ for housing and business development

SITES are now officially being sought for housing in Somerset.

Somerset Council has launched a Call for Sites, which seeks landowners, developers and site promoters with plots suitable for housing and industrial builds to come forward.

It comes as the authority works to create the first Local Plan covering the Somerset Local Planning Authority (LPA) area – identifying where new housing and employment developments will be built – and the plans were previously revealed by your Leveller in November.

Sites are being sought for use for housing, economic development, gypsy and traveller pitches, renewable energy installations, and leisure/recreation facilities.

However, anyone can suggest a site for consideration that they think may be suitable for development.

The Call for Sites will run for six weeks – until February 24 – followed by an assessment of each site’s suitability, availability, and achievability.

READ MORE: ‘Call for sites’ for housing and business developments to open in Somerset

Findings will be presented in a Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) report later this year, which will be used as evidence to help inform the Somerset Local Plan.

Local Plans help layout possible decision making on future developments in an area, with sites ‘allocated’ for uses such as housing and employment based on the needs of an area.

The plans are official documents, ratified after extensive public consultation and already exist for many towns and villages.

Cllr Mike Rigby, executive member for economic development, planning and assets, said: “The Call for Sites is a crucial part our work in developing the Somerset Local Plan in line with national policy. Understanding the potential supply of land available to meet development needs is a key early step in this process.

A Local Plan outlines sites identified for potential homes, or business development

A Local Plan outlines sites identified for potential homes, or business development

“We’re asking our residents and businesses to get involved and suggest land that might be available for possible future development, helping us to identify potential site options for further consideration.

“It’s important to stress that submitting a site for consideration is not the same as making a planning application, does not prejudice future consideration of specific development proposals for a site and by no means guarantees its inclusion in the local plan, it simply helps us build an evidence base from which we can draw up a Local Plan.”

Submissions can be made from any area, the council said, although the plan does not cover parts of Somerset Council that sit within the Exmoor National Park Authority, which has its own.

For more information and guidance on how to make a submission in the Somerset Call for Sites, visit somerset.gov.uk/planning-buildings-and-land/local-plan-call-for-sites.

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I am the editor in chief of Blackmore Vale media, which includes the New Blackmore Vale, New Stour & Avon, Salisbury & Avon Gazette and the Purbeck Gazette, having been a reporter for some 20 years. In my spare time, I am a festival lover, with a particular focus on Glastonbury. I live in Somerset with my wife and two children.