Thankyou for your letter of 16 February inviting Government Office to comment on the Southend Airport Joint Area Action Plan Preferred Options DPD.
Steve Bateman provided comments on an earlier version of the consultation document, in his letter to you dated 17 July 2008. He provided you with advice on progressing the DPD through the consultation and examination process under the revised PPS12, the amended Town and Country Planning (Local Development) Regulations and the Habitats Directive. I will not repeat Steve's procedural, nor his regulatory advice in this letter.
The Local Development Framework system is intended to produce concise and easily understood documents. They should set out a positive approach to managing new, spatial development. The Preferred Options document is clear and written in accessible, easily-understood language. However, the document elaborates the preferred option without explaining reasons why it was chosen, nor why alternatives were dismissed. It is very important to link the preferred option to the evidence that justifies its choice. Evidence should have emerged from previous consultation, the sustainability appraisal and existing or commissioned studies.
The Preferred Options document asserts particular directions of travel, particularly in its policy statements. In doing so, it constrains opportunities for Members to adopt any flexibility in their decisioin-making and approach to development.