Structure plan

We are the strategic planning authority under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

Prior to the Act, one of our main planning responsibilities was to prepare a Structure Plan that contained general policies and proposals of strategic importance for the development and use of land in the area.

The current Structure Plan was prepared jointly with Derby City Council, formally adopted on 31 January 2001 and covered the whole of Derbyshire outside the Peak District National Park.

As a ‘saved plan’ under the 2004 Act, it continued to provide the strategic context for local plans and relevant planning applications until 27 September 2007, pending its replacement by the Regional Spatial Strategy (see below).

Saved Derby and Derbyshire Joint Structure Plan Policies

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced a new system of development plans.

Under the Act, Structure Plans are replaced by Regional Spatial Strategies as the main strategic development plans for the area.

In the case of Derbyshire and the East Midlands, the East Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy is prepared by the East Midlands Regional Assembly. Our main strategic planning responsibility is now to assist the Regional Assembly in preparing and monitoring the Regional Spatial Strategy.

In addition, we retain the responsibility for preparing local planning policies for Minerals and Waste development, and these will now be contained in a “Minerals and Waste Development Framework” being prepared jointly with Derby City Council. Visit our local plan pages (opens in a new window) for more information.

District and borough councils continue to be responsible for preparing plans and policies for the development and use of land (excluding Minerals and Waste) in their council areas, also now known as Local Development Frameworks.

Under the 2004 Act, the Regional Spatial Strategy has now replaced the Derby and Derbyshire Joint Structure Plan. However, in the East Midlands the Regional Spatial Strategy is currently being reviewed and it is unlikely to be formally adopted by the Secretary of State until August 2008. The existing Regional Spatial Strategy does not adequately cover some land use policy areas. In order to bridge this gap, on 21 September 2007 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government issued a Direction under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act to extend the life of some Joint Structure Plan policies from 27 September 2007 until the Regional Spatial Strategy is approved.

A copy of this direction is attached below, which includes a schedule of the policies which have been saved for a further period. Policies not included on the schedule expired on 27 September 2007 and no longer have any statutory development plan status.

Local planning authorities preparing their new development plans will now be required to prepare them in the context of national and regional planning policy and guidance, and only those policies of the Joint Structure Plan that have been saved by the Secretary of State for a further period.

We will now only make strategic responses to planning consultations on planning applications from district councils in the context of these extended saved policies.

Contact:

Tel: 01629 580000 

  • Peter White ext 3310 for all general issues
  • Brian Smart ext 3320 for issues realting to minerals and waste issues 
  • Steve Buffery ext 3313 for all housing issues 
  • Jon Whitaker ext 3312 for economic issues.
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