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Kent is within the area of the South East England Regional
Assembly, one of a number of assemblies set up by the government in
England. The area extends from Oxfordshire through Hampshire to
Kent. The government has asked the assembly to prepare a plan for
new housing, transport, the economy and environment in the south
east for the period up to 2026.
The first sections of the plan, which contained planning
policies for the south east as a whole, were published for public
consultation as the draft South East Plan in January 2005.
Subsequently sections were added on housing numbers for each local
authority district and a number of strategies for sub regions
including Kent Thames Gateway and East Kent and Ashford in Kent.
The draft plan as a whole was submitted to the government on 31
March 2006. The draft plan and supporting documents are available
on the
South East England Regional Assembly's
website (link opens in a new window).
Further public consultation ran from 31 March to 23 June 2006,
followed by an
'examination in public' (link opens in a new
window) on the South East Plan proposals. The Government then
published an independent
Inspector's report (link opens in a new
window) in August 2007. Following this the published and
consulted on its
proposed changes to the Plan (link opens in
a new window) between July and October 2008.
The South East Plan will become a part of the statutory
Development Plan for Kent when it is adopted by the government
(expected early 2009), replacing the
Kent and Medway Structure Plan. The Structure Plan was adopted
on 6 July 2006, in partnership with Medway Council, and sets out
the housing numbers and planning policies for Kent until
2016. |