29.1 The policies in the Local Plan will be one of the primary mechanisms for delivering the plan’s spatial vision and strategic objectives. However, it is important to recognise that many other processes will influence their achievement, including the implementation of other plans and strategies produced at the national, sub-regional and local levels, investment by the public, private and voluntary sectors, and the actions of individual businesses and residents. The Local Plan is therefore an essential component in delivering the spatial vision and strategic objectives, but not sufficient on its own.
29.2 The development management process will be a key way in which the Local Plan will be implemented. Both the overall strategy and the individual policies of the Local Plan will provide the starting point for the determination of planning applications, along with the other parts of the development plan including the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development Plan Document, the Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan Document and any adopted neighbourhood plans. Other material considerations will be taken into account where relevant, including the National Planning Policy Framework and Salford’s supplementary planning documents.
29.3 The Local Plan will also have an important role in influencing and providing a positive framework for investment decisions. Ultimately, it will be investments by individual developers, businesses, residents and other organisations, as well as the city council, which will deliver the spatial vision and implement many of the policies of the Local Plan. It is therefore vital that the Local Plan provides clarity regarding what is required to deliver growth in a sustainable way that benefits everybody, so that this can be taken into account in the huge number of decisions that will be made regarding individual developments and other investments.
29.4 Planning conditions and obligations will reduce the negative impacts associated with development, ensure that developments are integrated and coordinated with their surroundings, and secure additional community and environmental benefits where appropriate. Some of the Local Plan policies will therefore potentially be implemented through this process. The city council will utilise its own resources where available and will also seek to attract charity-based funding, such as from the National Lottery, and grant funding from central Government wherever possible, although the latter is likely to be quite limited at least in the short to medium term given the pressures on public sector finances. The private sector will therefore have a particularly important role in supporting the delivery of the Local Plan.
29.5 The Local Plan provides a comprehensive set of planning policies for Salford. However, it will be appropriate to provide additional guidance on some issues so as to explain how individual policies should be implemented, such as through supplementary planning documents. The use of masterplans will also be necessary in some locations to ensure that development is properly co-ordinated and contributes to high quality neighbourhoods. This has been identified as being particularly important for sites in the Green Belt which are proposed to be allocated for development through the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
29.6 The strategic objectives in the Local Plan will be central to the achievement of the spatial vision, and provide the basis for the plan’s monitoring framework. The Local Plan includes more detailed indicators and targets at the end of each chapter, which will be used to monitor the achievement of policies within it. These will be reported on annually.
29.7 Some of the indicators that have been included will be influenced by many factors and not just the Local Plan, but they still provide a useful way of monitoring the outcomes that the document is seeking to help achieve. For some policies, quantitative indicators will not be appropriate and the main focus will be on monitoring whether there have been any problems with implementing the policies through the development management process, for example because of a lack of clarity or change in circumstances. For other policies, it will be important to monitor key projects that will help to deliver those policies, not all of which will be specifically mentioned in the Local Plan. It will also be necessary to monitor the wider policy context, to ensure that the Local Plan remains consistent with national policy and other key plans and strategies.