Blueprint for land use is approved

AN application to extend the life of an Oldham Council document that sets out policies and procedures for local land use has been approved by the Government.

The Unitary Development Plan was adopted in July, 2006, and should have been replaced by a new Local Development Framework next month.

But work on the new document has been delayed, meaning the council had to apply to extend the life of its UDP policies to prevent a local planning policy vacuum.

Government approval means that the council’s planning decisions beyond July will still take local factors into account rather than being governed purely by national and regional planning policies.