The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 places a responsibility on local authorities to undertake a range of town planning work and to provide related services.  The town planning service in Torbay is provided by two Sections:

Strategic Planning in Torbay is the responsibility of the Strategic Planning Group, one of three groups that comprise the Environmental Policy Section. The two other groups in this Section are Strategic Transportation and Environmental Policy. The various documents produced by this Group are set out in our Publications List . Other useful links relating to this area of work include the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Planning Portal.

Development control, conservation, enforcement and other related services are provided by the Planning & Development Services Section.

The Strategic Planning Group has responsibility for the following matters:

Plan Preparation

• Preparation of the Torbay Local Plan
• Preparation of the Local Development Framework (LDF) which will supersede the Local Plan in due course
• Overseeing the preparation of a number of technical studies and reports such as the Urban Capacity Study, which form the evidence base for planning policy
• Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of documents belonging to the LDF. This includes an SA of the Council's Greenspace Strategy
• Joint preparation of the Devon Structure Plan
• Involvement in preparation of Regional Planning Guidance (RPG10)
• Involvement in preparation of Regional Spatial Strategies which will supersede RPG10, including the Torbay & South Devon sub-regional study and the Council's seperate '4(4)' response as a former Structure Plan Authority

Planning and Development Projects

• Preparation of Planning Briefs   
• Involvement in major redevelopment and regeneration projects
• Provision of planning policy advice on specific types of planning application

Monitoring Land Use Trends

• Land Use Monitors (Housing, Employment, Retail and Principal Holiday Accommodation Areas)
• Annual Monitoring Reports
• Planning policy research
• Policy advice
• Provision of strategic planning policy advice to the community and developers   

Corporate Strategies, Plans and Policy Guidance Documents

• Adopted Management Plan for the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Torbay. Further information is available from the AONB staff unit or via their  website.
• As a member of the Torbay Biodiversity Steering Group, the production of the Torbay Marine Biodiversity Action Plan (2004-2012), Torbay Local Geodiversity Action Plan (LGAP) and Torbay Biodiversity Action Plan (The Nature of Torbay 2006-2016,). (Please see the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust website for further details.)
• Assistance in the preparation of the Torbay Greenspace Strategy (See related pages link to the right)
• Preparation of the Torbay Waste Management Plan.
• Advice on affordable housing provision.

Related Documents

Publications List 2007

To view any published Related Documents for this service you will require the appropriate software. To download this software please see our documents help page. All links to documents will open in a new window. To request documents and files in an alternative format please contact us using the contact information provided on this page.