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Local development frameworks are a collection of documents that together should set out a vision, and the strategy and policies for the use of land in each local authority in England.

What's different about local development frameworks
The way that local planning documents are prepared, and what they are trying to achieve, will be significantly different from planning in the past.

They will focus on results
The emphasis is on making things happen on taking active steps to achieve what the framework intends.

The framework will guide change rather than simply react to trends.This is positive planning.

Results will be achieved not just by approving or refusing planning applications but also by other means.

For instance, public agencies could acquire land, or plan and deliver their services in a way that meets the framework's objectives.

They will reflect what the community wants
Under the old planning system, the local authority puts forward its own proposals and seeks reactions to them from interested organisations and individuals.

Under the new system, the framework is supposed to evolve as far as possible by local consensus, based on extensive public engagement.

The intention is to involve people early on in the creation of policy, rather than largely by means of intervening in firm proposals at a later stage.

They will tie in with other policiesregional,
Other local policies will tie in clearly to the framework, each influencing the others. In particular, the community strategy for the area will affect what the framework says and its overall vision.

One effect will be to make each framework more distinctive to its area.

The framework will also have to respect national and regional policies.

They will aim for plans that are 'sound'
The aim is progressively and co-operatively to improve the 'soundness' of plans until they can be adopted.

They will be easier to review and update
The framework is a folder of many documents, not one monolithic document.

The aim of having a series of separate development plan documents and supplementary planning documents is to allow parts of the overall package to be reviewed and updated quickly and individually as necessary.

New or different documents can be prepared as the need arises, provided that this is first agreed by an annual revision of the local development scheme