Councillor Jim Cripps, Chair of Rochford District Council’s Planning Policy Committee, said: “Yesterday, the government published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which sets out the planning policy which local authorities are required to follow. The government has set out that it wishes to significantly increase housing numbers and has given each local planning authority a new mandatory housing target which it must meet in updated Local Plans. For Rochford District Council, this has significantly increased the housing requirement to 689 new homes per year.
“There are many other changes that the National Planning Policy Framework makes, and we expect further changes to the planning system to come forward in the new year. The Council will need to review the full implications of this change in government policy before we have a more rounded view on what this means for our Local Plan.”