Issues and Options

Ends on 14 April 2025 (12 days remaining)
Public events will be held around the District during the Issues and Options Consultation. Please click here for times and locations.

3 Vision and Objectives

3.1 The Council's current Local Plan sets out an overarching vision and associated set of objectives to guide the planning of the District up to 2033. The vision and objectives underpin many of the policies and proposals in the Local Plan that the Council, working with partners, are seeking to implement over the Plan's timeframe.

3.2 In reviewing the Local Plan and extending its timeframe to 2041, it will be appropriate to revisit the vision and objectives. Because the vision and objectives in the current Local Plan were already designed to cover the period to 2033 (some eight years away from now) and were only adopted by the Council as recently as 2022, it would be reasonable not to expect the update to bring about any fundamental change in the overall approach and direction – assuming that a positive vision for the District in 2033 can sensibly form the basis of a positive vision for the extended period to 2041. However, the Local Plan review naturally provides an opportunity to check that the vision and objectives are accurate and reflect the most up-to-date position – including the opportunities arising from Freeport East; the priorities in the Council's latest Corporate Plan (Our Vision); progress on the Levelling-Up projects in the District; and the Jaywick Sands Place Plan.

3.3 The Council has produced a refreshed version of the vision and objectives for the Local Plan taking into account some of the above factors and we would like to invite people's comments.

Vision for Tendring District

Vision

In 2041, the Tendring District will be a vibrant, healthy and attractive place to live, work and visit. It will have a thriving, resilient and prosperous economy that promotes sustainable economic growth, making sustainable use of its natural and historic environments, maritime connections and popularity as a visitor destination.

The District's residents will be able to enjoy a safe and healthy quality of life in communities that offer a range of high-quality new housing that meets local needs, with job opportunities across a variety of employment sectors and other important services and facilities, including modern health, education and retail/leisure provision. Residents and visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of landscapes including a tidy coast, the open countryside with its elements of natural beauty, a diverse range of attractive historic settlements, landscapes and assets, and an integrated and expanding network of protected wildlife-rich areas which are conserved and enhanced. The District will be home to people of all ages and abilities, providing a range of activities, attractions and facilities that will appeal to the retired, the young and residents of working age; and will also provide for the specialist needs of all people ensuring, in particular, that children and young people have the knowledge and skills for a good start in life.

Tendring District's coastal area places economic, social and environmental considerations at the forefront of climate change and therefore there will be a need for adaptation and mitigation against climate change at the centre of sustainable development.

Seaside Towns

Clacton-on-Sea will have established itself as the place everyone wants to live, and the economy will have seen a significant resurgence with new job opportunities; particularly in the business, retail, leisure, hospitality and health sectors. This growth will have been driven, in part, by the rejuvenation of the town's attractive and safe beaches and multi-million-pound private investment in its seafront attractions, alongside public investment of Levelling Up funding in redeveloping the town centre's library and civic area. The town will have seen the emergence of a variety of attractive shops, restaurants and cafes and leisure facilities, as well as the creation of new country parks, the modernisation of premises across its business and industrial parks and the construction of hundreds of new high-quality, energy efficient, accessible and spacious houses, bungalows and retirement complexes. The people of Clacton and the wider area will have access to modern health facilities including the Diagnostic Centre at Clacton Hospital.

Clacton will have preserved and enhanced its heritage features and maintained its tourism roots, building a thriving local tourism industry. But as well as attracting holiday makers, the town will provide a range of activities and attractions that older residents can enjoy with their children and grandchildren at the weekends and during the school holidays, and a strong evening economy where people from the town and surrounding areas will come for a fun and relaxing evening with their friends and colleagues in some of the town's new and trendy restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment venues.

In Jaywick Sands, regeneration projects will continue to raise the standard of living in this part of Clacton – building on the success of the Sunspot Workspace Scheme, renewed sea defences, improved housing conditions and the delivery of other projects in the Jaywick Sands Place Plan. The people of Jaywick Sands will be able to enjoy a sustainable community with associated economic, community and employment opportunities.

Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze will enjoy year-round prosperity whilst retaining their very distinctive individual characteristics. Walton will have seen the biggest change following an injection of new housing, holiday accommodation, shops and leisure attractions bringing vitality to the town centre and core visitor areas, with improved medical facilities serving the resident population. Frinton will have also seen some new homes and improvements to public spaces whilst continuing to deliver a unique and independent shopping and leisure offer to its residents and its visitors. Both settlements will have succeeded in preserving and enhancing their special historic character.

Harwich, Freeport East and the A120 Corridor

The Harwich area will have experienced an economic resurgence following the designation of Harwich Port and other sites along the A120 corridor as part of 'Freeport East' (alongside Felixstowe Port and Gateway 14 in Suffolk). The tax, customs and other business incentives offered by Freeport status will have resulted in considerable private investment and new jobs for local people in industrial activities, logistics and emerging green energy sectors with new developments at Bathside Bay, Horsley Cross and other sites with good access to the A120 and the local population. Bathside Bay will be playing a critical role in the medium term, servicing the expansion, construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms with more jobs to come in the long-term through the construction and completion of a new container port and associated small boat harbour.

The increase in work opportunities will have generated a significant demand for training facilities and new homes in the Harwich and Dovercourt area particularly for working people and families both in the local area and moving in from elsewhere. This boost in demand in the housing market will have resulted in a number of high-quality housing developments. The Old Town of Harwich will offer new leisure activities and visitor attractions associated with its maritime history. Dovercourt Town Centre and seafront will have also improved its offer of a year-round shopping and leisure experience following significant public investment through the Levelling-Up Fund in its public spaces and improved connections. These benefits will have taken place whilst continuing to preserve and enhance the town's maritime heritage through careful consideration of its associated buildings, structures and coastal landscapes.

Garden Villages

In order to meet the needs of a growing population, one or more new strategically located and comprehensively planned Garden Villages will be developed in accordance with detailed masterplanning and site-specific planning policies.

Our Garden Villages will provide necessary infrastructure and services, enabling residents to meet their day to day needs locally, reducing reliance on car travel. Designed to the highest standards, these villages will embody best practices in urban design and place-making, setting a benchmark for future developments in Tendring.

These exemplar communities will not only provide high-quality housing but also foster a sense of community and well-being, with green spaces, recreational facilities, and community infrastructure. By integrating innovative and sustainable design, our Garden Villages will create thriving, resilient communities that enhance the quality of life for all residents.

Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community

The neighbouring City of Colchester will have been the focus for significant growth in jobs and housing and will have continued to develop a thriving economy that will benefit Tendring District's residents, many of whom commute into the town each day for work. A new Garden Community will be developed to the east of Colchester, developed in accordance with a detailed Development Plan Document (DPD) and positive collaborative working with Colchester City Council, Essex County Council and the lead developers, which takes advantage of its strategic position in relation to Colchester and its proximity to the university to maximise the economic benefits to current and future residents of Tendring. The Garden Community will provide necessary infrastructure and facilities and a high-quality of built and urban design. With major investment in rapid transit services to the town centre, pedestrian and cycle connections and a new link road between the A120 and A133, the management of traffic congestion will have improved, along with provision of upgraded broadband infrastructure and services.

The University of Essex will be one of the leading research and development facilities in the country and, as a result, businesses will have moved to the area to benefit from its expertise and improved transport links. The new Garden Community crossing the Colchester City and Tendring District boundary will be a much sought-after place to live. It will provide the right balance of jobs, housing and infrastructure in the right locations and will attract residents and businesses who value innovation, community cohesion and a high-quality environment, and who will be provided with opportunities to take an active role in managing the community to ensure its continuing success.

Residents will live in high-quality and innovatively designed homes, which accommodate a variety of needs and aspirations and are located in well-designed neighbourhoods where they can meet their day-to-day needs. There will be a network of tree-lined streets and green spaces, incorporating and enhancing existing landscape features and also accommodating safe and attractive routes and space for sustainable drainage solutions; and leisure and recreation opportunities for both residents and visitors of the garden community.

Suitable models for the long-term stewardship of community assets will be established and funded to provide long term management and governance of assets. All Garden City principles as specified in the North Essex Garden Communities Charter will be positively embraced including where appropriate, new approaches to delivery and partnership working for the benefit of the new community. Central to this will be the comprehensive planning and development of the garden community, and the aligned delivery of homes and supporting infrastructure.

Rural Heartland

In the District's substantial rural heartland, the smaller towns of Manningtree, Lawford, Mistley and Brightlingsea, along with some of the larger villages, will have seen varying levels of new housing and employment development that have helped to support local shops and services, address local issues, provide for local needs and facilitate investment by local businesses in job opportunities. In some of the District's more remote villages, hamlets and other rural communities a flexible approach to small-scale housing development has helped keep those communities vibrant. Improvements to the telecommunications network and internet broadband services have given these areas a new lease of life with more people able to work, shop and learn from the comfort of their own home.

An increasing number of communities will be developing their own Neighbourhood Plans and promoting community-led development as a means of bringing about positive changes and meeting specific needs and aspirations of local people and businesses.

Throughout the District's countryside and farming communities, a diverse variety of employment and leisure opportunities will have grown up in support of the rural economy and achieving. significant investment in securing the long-term custodianship of the environment. Many parts of the District will have witnessed the creation of diverse wildlife habitats that expand upon and enhance Tendring's intrinsic network of green infrastructure and attractive natural landscapes. Growth in ecology over the District will have not only helped support the diversification of the rural economy but will have made a critical and meaningful contribution in mitigating and adapting to climate change along with the delivery ambitious targets for biodiversity net gain.

Any new development will need to obtain the following outcomes:

  1. Creating the right balance of jobs, housing and infrastructure;
  2. Ensuring that development is sustainable in terms of location, use and form;
  3. Balancing the development needs of the District with the protection and enhancement of the natural, historic and built environment;
  4. Excellent services and facilities easily accessed by local communities and businesses;
  5. More walkable places and an excellent choice of ways to travel;
  6. Vibrant, well-connected town and productive countryside;
  7. Avoid, then mitigate and, as a last resort, compensate for adverse impacts of development on the built, historic and natural environment to achieve a net gain in biodiversity while capitalising on these features;
  8. Stronger, more self-reliant town and countryside with thriving centres;
  9. Enhanced quality of life for all residents;
  10. Working with partners and residents to develop a place where people really matter;
  11. All new developments should reduce the causes of, adapt to and mitigate against climate change.

Objective 1: Housing Delivery

  • To provide new dwellings within Tendring District up to 2041 of sufficient variety in terms of location of sites, size, types, tenure and affordability to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population in full.
  • To deliver high quality sustainable new communities.

Objective 2: Employment/Commercial

  • To create the conditions for economic growth and employment opportunities across a range of economic sectors including established business sectors and those sectors projected to grow in the future such as renewable energy and care and assisted living.
  • To provide for the development of employment land on a variety of sites to support a diversity of employment opportunities and to achieve a better balance between the location of jobs and housing, which will reduce the need to travel and promote sustainable growth in the period up to 2041.

Objective 3: Town Centre Development

  • To promote the vitality and viability of the town centres through the promotion of retail and other appropriate uses, exploiting the benefit of enhanced growth of the towns whilst retaining the best and valued aspects of their existing character, as well as responding appropriately to changes in the way people enjoy shopping and other leisure activities, and competition for trade arising from other centres, both within and outside of the District.

Objective 4: Infrastructure Provision

  • To make efficient use of existing transport infrastructure and ensure sustainable transport opportunities are promoted in all new development. Where additional capacity is required in the form of new or upgraded transport infrastructure, to ensure this is provided as necessary in connection with new development.
  • To enable provision of upgraded broadband infrastructure and services.
  • To ensure that new growth brings opportunities to enhance existing services, facilities and infrastructure for the benefit of existing and new communities.
  • To ensure that flood defence infrastructure is considered so that future developments take into consideration the impacts of climate change.
  • To ensure there is adequate capacity in the foul water sewerage infrastructure to meet existing and future needs, and to safeguard water quality and the special environment of the District.

Objective 5: Education and Health

  • To improve and provide good quality educational opportunities and prospects for Tendring's residents as part of sustainable community strategy. This includes practical vocational training and apprenticeships.
  • To work with partners in the National Health Service, local health organisations, Essex County Council and local community groups to ensure adequate provision of healthcare and multi-use facilities to support growing communities.
  • To work with Public Health to promote and encourage healthy lifestyles through developments and planning to ensure that the people of Tendring have opportunities to be as healthy as possible.

Objective 6: Sustainability

  • To locate development within Tendring District where it will provide the opportunity for people to satisfy their needs for employment, shopping, education, and other services locally or in locations which minimise the need to travel and where there are modes of transport available in addition to the use of the car.

Objective 7: The Historic Environment

  • To conserve and enhance Tendring District's historic environment, including heritage; respecting historic buildings and their settings; heritage assets; landscapes; links; and views.

Objective 8: Biodiversity

  • To provide a network of interconnected multi-functional natural green and blue spaces which secures a net gain in biodiversity and geodiversity; promotes healthy lifestyles; and enhances the quality of the natural and built environment.

Objective 9: Water and Flood Risk

  • To reduce the risk of all types of flooding by securing the appropriate location and design of new development (incorporating SuDs where appropriate), having regard to the likely impact of climate change.

Objective 10: Tourism Promotion

  • To work with partners to provide an enhanced environment for tourism and the maritime sector and its associated services.

Objective 11: Climate Change

  • To provide developments that reduce carbon emissions and are ready to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Questions

  1. Do you agree with the updated Vision and Objectives for the future of Tendring as set out above? Comment
  2. Would you suggest any changes? Comment
For instructions on how to use the system and make comments, please see our help guide.
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