Southend-on-Sea and Rochford Local Plan Reviews - Transport Evidence

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (SBC), on behalf of SBC and Rochford District Council (RDC), are looking to appoint a consultant to prepare the transport and highways evidence base to support the promotion of the Southend on Sea Local Plan along with the Rochford District Local Plan. SBC is a unitary authority, whilst RDC is a two-tiered authority and therefore Essex County Council (ECC) will need to be engaged and agreement sought as the highway and transport authority covering Rochford. Both Councils (SBC & RDC) have commenced work on preparing new Local Plans, having both previously consulted on respective Regulation 18 ‘Issues and Options’ Documents. In light of the “duty to co-operate” requirement on Local Plans and the strong relationship between the two authority areas with ECC, and being at similar stages in the plan preparation process, the Councils are now exploring opportunities to plan jointly across both authority areas. This includes potentially preparing a joint Part 1 or aligned Local Plans and the commissioning of joint evidence. This would allow the authorities to more effectively address more localised strategic issues and respond positively to cross-boundary opportunities and challenges, including around London Southend Airport, and significant growth pressures. The Councils expect to prepare and consult on a joint/ aligned spatial options paper in Q4 2020.