Ward Forums to discuss Draft Plan for Sutherland’s development
The Highland Council’s Draft Local Plan for Sutherland will be the subject of discussion by Highland Councillors, Community Council and Partner Agency representatives at Ward Forums coming up soon - and members of the public are invited to attend to listen to the discussion and ask their own questions.
The Ward Forum for North, West and Central Sutherland covers a large area of the Highlands, covering many communities stretching from Melvich through Durness in the north, down to Lochinver in the west and as far as Ardgay and Bonar Bridge in the south. The Forum will meet for the first time on Tuesday (4 December) at Altnaharra Primary School starting at 7pm.
The East Sutherland and Edderton Ward Forum - covering from Edderton to Helmsdale and inland to Kinbrace and Ardachu - is to take place on Monday 17 December in Dornoch Academy Hall from 7.30pm.
David Cowie, Principal Planner, said: “Ward Forums are part of the new arrangements that the Council has put in place for engaging with communities. They have a key role to play in consultation on the Local Plan and provide opportunity for a number of organisations to share thoughts on matters of local service delivery. The Local Plan will be important because it will guide future development and investment. The organisations represented on the Forum all have interest in that and they may have some part to play in helping us achieve things set out in the Plan. Members of the public who attend will have the opportunity to hear what they have to say and to put questions to the Forum.
“As part of a wider agenda for these Ward Forum meetings, we will be giving a presentation about the Draft Local Plan to each Forum, to stimulate their discussion. The Plan identifies sites for development of housing, business and other uses and includes requirements for how sites should be developed. The Plan cannot identify every site that will come forward for development though. This is particularly true of small-scale development around some of our rural communities and in the countryside- and a large part of Sutherland comprises those sorts of area. The Plan therefore sets out how we will consider those types of proposal.”
Ward Forums have been set up across the Highlands to help people have their say in what's happening in their area. The forums will meet regularly in public led by the ward members in the area, assisted by the Ward Manager. Representatives of community councils and partner agencies, such as the police and fire, will also serve on the forums.
The meetings will last for up to 2 hours, with a 20-minute slot allocated at the end of the meeting for questions from the public.
Mr. Cowie concluded: “Members of the public who want to ask one of our Planners about the Local Plan can also attend one of our Local Plan Surgeries which we are holding and which we are publicising locally. Anyone wanting to check the details of these may contact us.”
Written representations on the Draft Sutherland Local Plan need to be with the Council’s Planners no later than 1 February 200