Crawley Borough Council has emerged from its summer recess ready to make a new series of important decisions. There will be a Special Full Council on 26th September to decide our position on the possible expansion of Gatwick Airport, including a potential second runway.
This debate has been held over a number of years since the airport was first opened in 1958. I hope that the two political groups on the council agree to a free vote on the subject. This will make for a much better debate as occurred in June 2003 with this same topic.
Whatever happens, the Council is of course only one opinion former. There will be many other inputs to the airport capacity review in the south-east, although we would hope that ours carries considerable weight as the local planning authority.
On a party political note, the Conservative Group elects its new leader on 5th September and the 26th September Special Council meeting elects a new Leader of the Council.
This will be the first such election of a new leader since May 2006. Both events are significant and will make the news in their own way.
Looking ahead, we will be refining and adopting the new local plan which describes a vision for Crawley up to the year 2029. That might seem a long time away but decisions that we take now can have a profound impact in the years ahead. It is vital that we have a sound local plan so that we can influence where new development is permitted and those areas that we wish to designate for different purposes.
Planning examples include our housing requirement and the amount of green and recreational space that we need in the future. Other considerations include office and retail space requirements. We also need a new cemetery and to show that we have properly considered the needs of the traveller community.
There are many other examples of planning that need to be put in place.
Ultimately the local plan goes out to an examination in public by planning inspectors. It needs to be found sound to be adopted.
This is an important point. A sound local plan is necessary for us to exert influence over where different types of new development can occur. For example, the Council has a policy of “Town Centre First” for new retail development rather than on say the Manor Royal Business District.