Planning Services
The Local Development Framework
The government has introduced some radical changes to the planning system. Locally this means the Barking and Dagenham Unitary Development Plan (which was adopted in 1995) will eventually be replaced by a new Local Development Framework.
The Local Development Framework will set out our policies for meeting the community's economic, environmental and social aims for the future, where this affects the development and use of land.
It will help us to decide what the best use of land and buildings should be, ultimately influencing how the borough will look and feel over the next 10-20 years.
The New System
The new planning system places greater emphasis on:
- Better engaging with the community in the planning of the borough early on, and throughout the preparation of planning policies
- Moving development plans from purely land use to a broader 'spatial planning approach' - reflecting a broader range of strategies
- Assessing policies against the principles of achieving sustainable communities to ensure that social, economic and environmental considerations are taken into account in the preparation of planning policies
- Ensuring that the Local Development Framework reflects the aspirations identified in the Barking and Dagenham Partnership Community Strategy
What documents make up our Local Development Framework?
- A Local Development Scheme setting out the overall timetable for producing the Local Development Framework
- A Statement of Community Involvement setting out how we will involve the community in producing the Local Development Framework
- A Core Strategy to set out the general spatial vision, objectives and core policies for future development
- Borough Wide Development Policies setting out detailed policies to control development and deliver the vision, objectives and policies of the core strategy
- Site Specific Allocations showing all sites that have been identified for development or which will be protected from development
- A Joint Waste Development Plan Document setting out a planning strategy to 2020 for sustainable waste management. This is being developed by the 4 East London Waste Authority boroughs of Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge
- Barking Town Centre Area Action Plan which will show how we plan to develop and improve Barking Town Centre over the coming years
- An Urban Design Framework which will supplement the main Local Development Framework documents and provide detailed guidance on design issues
- Sustainability Appraisals of most of the above documents, looking at what economic, environmental and social effects they are likely to have
- Annual monitoring report
For more information about the current status of these documents, please read our latest news web page. If you would like to be added to our database of consultees, so you can be notified of future Local Development Framework consultation events, please fill out the consultation form.
London Plan
The new legislation requires the Local Development Framework to be in general conformity with The London Plan, produced by the Mayor of London.
The Community Strategy
The Local Development Framework will also help to deliver the Barking and Dagenham Community Strategy - Building Communities Transforming Lives - which is produced by the Barking and Dagenham Partnership.
Local Development Scheme
The Local Development Scheme is the first stage in the production of the Local Development Framework. It is essentially a work programme setting out what we will produce to form the Local Development Framework - it specifies the timetable for the production and review of these documents.
The Local Development Scheme has now been approved by the Government.
Local Development Scheme (2007 version) 
PDF 612K
To view PDF files requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.
