Introduction

Adopted Unitary Development Plan

What is the Unitary Development Plan?

1.1 The Salford City Council Unitary Development Plan (UDP) is the sole statutory land-use plan for the whole City. It supersedes the Greater Manchester Structure Plan and the twelve Local Plans which previously covered different parts of the City, and it constitutes the City Council's Development Plan.

1.2 The new plan has been prepared according to the provisions of relevant Parliamentary Acts, Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs), Circulars, Memoranda and Regulations. Chief amongst these are:

• the Town and Country Planning Act 1990  
• the Planning and Compensation Act 1991  
• Planning Policy Guidance Note 12 (PPG12); February 1992  
• Circular 18/91  
• the Town and Country Planning (Development Plan) Regulations 1991 (Statutory Instrument No 2794)  
• Strategic Planning Guidance for Greater Manchester (RPG4)

1.3 The functions of the Unitary Development Plan are described in Planning Policy Guidance Note 12 (PPG12). This refers to the UDP as providing the essential framework for development decisions, conveying a clear understanding of the weight to be given to different aspects of the public interest in determining the use of land and also identifying common expectations about the likely broad patterns of development.

1.4 In this way the UDP provides:

guidance - to help people plan the use of their land confidently and sensibly, and help planning authorities to interpret the public interest wisely and consistently;

incentive - in that by allocating land for particular types of development the plan may stimulate that development;

control - to ensure the proper control of development in the public interest, and to enable those people who are affected by development to have their views considered.

1.5 Implementation of the plan will be dependent on both public and private sector investment. The plan will help to establish priorities for action and will provide a framework for various local, national and European expenditure programmes. City Council departments will use the plan to guide the allocation of their own resources. The Plan will also provide a framework for private sector development by identifying opportunities and providing a context for development control decisions. The Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, requires development control decisions to accord with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Guidance to supplement the plan's policies and proposals has been prepared and will continue to be produced. It is, and will be, consistent with the plan, and constitute Supplementary Planning Guidance, as allowed for in PPG12 - `Development Plans and Regional Planning Guidance'.

1.6 The City Council will monitor the performance of the plan to ensure its continued effectiveness. It is anticipated that a formal review of the plan will be necessary within five years of its adoption.

Public Involvement in Plan Preparation

1.7 Public consultation has been an important factor in the preparation of the Unitary Development Plan. During the summer of 1991 (22nd July to 30th September) the City Council undertook an extensive programme of public consultation on its Draft Unitary Development Plan.

This included:

• sending copies of the plan or a summary leaflet to some 648 organisations or individuals including government departments, advisory bodies, neighbouring local authorities, local government organisations, residents and tenants groups, developers, land owners, major employers, voluntary organisations, statutory undertakers, local MPs and planning consultants;
• producing a touring exhibition which visited libraries at Swinton, Walkden, Irlam, Eccles, Broadwalk and Broughton as well as the Civic Centre at Swinton;  
• displaying a smaller exhibition, based on the summary leaflet, at 131 different venues throughout the City, including branch libraries, museums, recreation centres, area housing offices, project offices, community and day centres, health centres, clinics, information centres and Citizens' Advice Bureaux; placing copies of the plan in all Libraries, information centres and Citizens' Advice Bureaux;  
• attending four public meetings including one for voluntary organisations held in conjunction with Salford Council for Voluntary Service, and three with local residents' groups at Greenheys, Ellesmere Park and Boothstown; issuing press releases and securing press coverage in the Manchester Evening News, the Advertiser and the Journal.

1.8 The public consultation exercise on the Draft Plan resulted in comments being received by the City Council from nearly 800 organisations, individuals or families. All these comments were given very careful consideration by the City Council and helped to inform the preparation of the Deposit Draft Plan. This version of the plan was placed on Deposit on 23rd November 1992 for a statutory six week period concluding on the 4th January 1993. Some 577 representations were received in respect of the Deposit Draft Plan, of which 148 were expressions of support for the Plan. A public inquiry into outstanding objections to the Deposit Draft Plan was held between 5th October and 3rd December 1993, and the Inspector issued his report of the Inquiry on 24th October 1994.

1.9 The City Council formally advertised proposed modifications to the Deposit Draft Plan for a statutory six week period commencing on 25th May 1995. The Plan was formally adopted on 23rd November 1995.

The Form and Content of the Plan

1.10 It is a requirement of the legislation that the plan is prepared in two parts.

• Part I of the plan should consist of a written statement of the City Council's policies for the development and use of land, including measures for conserving the natural beauty and amenity of land, improving the physical environment, and the management of traffic. The emphasis of Part I should be on major land use policies of importance to the whole of the City and these should provide a framework for the proposals in Part II.

Part II of the plan should comprise:

• a written statement of the City Council's proposals for the development and other use of land including policies which will form the basis for deciding planning applications;  
• a map showing these proposals on a geographical basis;  
• a reasoned justification of the general policies in Part I of the plan and of the proposals in Part II;  
• such diagrams, illustrations or other descriptive or explanatory matter as the City Council think appropriate.

1.11 For the purpose of this exercise, Part I of this plan comprises:

1. the Introduction, Strategic Planning Background, and Planning Strategy (Chapter 1, 2 and 3);  
2. the various topic strategies outlined in Chapters 4 to 12; and  
3. the Part I policies detailed in Chapters 4 to 12.

All other parts of the Written Statement and the Proposals Map comprise Part II of the plan.

1.12 In formulating the general policies in Part I of the plan, the City Council has been required to have regard to the following matters:

1. Strategic Planning Guidance for Greater Manchester, as issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment in October 1989;  
2. current national and regional policies;  
3. the resources likely to be available;  
4. social, economic and environmental considerations; and  
5. any policies and proposals of an urban development corporation (UDC) which affect, or may be expected to affect the City (in Salford's case this includes the policies and proposals of both the Trafford Park and the Central Manchester UDCs).

This requirement has been complied with.

NEXT: Strategic Planning Background

This page was last updated on 4 October 2009