CHANGES to the emerging joint Local Plan for North Devon and Torridge have been given the go ahead by councillors at council meetings held last week. 

Councillors at North Devon Council and Torridge District Council agreed to the main changes to the document, following a six week public consultation last summer and new evidence documents.

The Local Plan sets out how both districts will develop up to 2031. This includes where new houses could be built, where local community facilities could be provided and where land to provide employment could be developed.

It will be the main document used to make decisions on planning applications.

During the public consultation last summer more than 2,500 comments on the document were received.

The first consultation in 2013 provided more than 4,000 comments. Every comment has been read and taken into consideration by councillors and planning officers from both councils.

Now that the changes have been approved by both councils the plan will go out for a final six week public consultation, which is expected to start this month.

The Local Plan, along with the comments received, will then be submitted to the Secretary of State  for examination later this year.