Residents of Barking and Dagenham are being encouraged to help shape the future of the area after the council opened consultations on the new Local Plan.
The plan is a technical document used by planners to decide what to allow from investors, developers and builders. Every borough is required to have a Local Plan by law.
As part of the plan for Barking and Dagenham, the council are setting out plans for upcoming developments in the area until 2034 and are calling on residents to get involved in the consultations which opened on Friday.
The Local Plan consultation is set to run until the end of February.
It is the first step in a wider programme asking people about growth and regeneration in Barking and Dagenham, with local authorities planning to ask how people they see their neighbourhoods changing and how it should approach growth and regeneration in the new year.
Developments for housing and industry are popping up across the borough, with more in the pipeline. One of the most recent projects to get the go-ahead is a new laboratory for University College London in Dagenham. The council is also hoping to see a new film studio built on the same site.
Caroline Harper, Chief Planner for the council’s development arm Be First, said: “The council is obliged to plan to accommodate growth and our ambition is to do this in a way that will benefit residents.
“We want to be sure the right sort of housing is available for our young people. And we want to attract new businesses that will generate good jobs.
“The Local Plan guides those who want to invest in our community to deliver what the community has said it wants between now and 2034.
“It talks about lots of key policy issues, such as how we protect and enhance the environment and how we encourage residents to live more active, healthier and more sustainable lives. These issues are vitally important for the borough, so residents’ views and suggestions are really important.”
To comment on the draft Local Plan for Barking and Dagenham 2019-2034 go to lbbd.gov.uk/local-plan-review.
