If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail

It’s now 6 years & 7 months since the Maldon Local Development Plan 2014-2029 [pdf] was approved (21 July 2017) and 6 years & 5 months since the Burnham Neighbourhood Plan 2014-2020 [pdf] was made part of the Maldon LDP by Maldon District Council (8 September 2017).

The period both these plans cover ends in 2029 – now just 5 years away.

The current documents took many years to complete. Consultation on the Maldon LDP began in 2006 (11 years before approval), while consultation on the Burnham NDP began in July 2013 (over 4 years before approval).

I’m not aware, at present, of any plans on how the public will be involved in the creation of successor plans. Does anyone know?

Undoubtedly, the work done on the current documents will decrease the time necessary to complete their successors – but it’s clear that many changes since their publication will need to be addressed, new challenges will need to be faced, and the public must participate again.

These documents are pre-Covid, pre-leaving the EU, pre-record breaking heat.

The expectations of those who engaged in the democratic process of deciding where future housing should be (enshrined in the current documents) were thwarted by both national planning policy and the District Council’s inability to demonstrate a required 5 five-year land supply. Next time the consultation will need to address a once-bitten, twice-shy populace with heightened demands for answers about what happened, and both influence and infrastructure going forward. No matter what your personal take on new house building is, it’s clear that the public must be better informed and given a greater role in shaping our common future.

Maldon District Council declared a Climate Emergency in February 2021 and in November 2021 the Council’s Climate Action Strategy (CAS) 2021-2030 [pdf] was adopted. The CAS pledged to develop a strong policy commitment to Climate Action and indicated an a way to meet that aim would be updating the Local Development Plan Planning Policies to include more expectations for net zero. There certainly needs to be more detail on this and how MDC plans to reduce carbon emissions and increase climate resilience across the Maldon District. Heating housing both existing and proposed will need to be addressed, and accelerating modal shift in transport will require more than cycle paths on new developments and e-charge points in council car parks.

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK government by law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100% of 1990 levels (net zero) by 2050. In accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement, the UK has further committed [pdf] to reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. 


The Government’s recent policy changes have made achieving both commitments more difficult. The pressure to meet the legal requirements agreed upon nationally and internationally will increasingly necessitate greater local and regional action. Action that must take place within the time frame of the next Neighbourhood and Local plans.