Breckland’s Local Plan

District-wide community consultation

Our aim was to create a shared vision for the district that would guide development through to 2046. Encouraging a population of hundreds of thousands of people to consider how the region should change in the coming decades is a big ask. Our knowledge of planning policy and local government issues enabled us to quickly identify the key questions. We set about to strip back the planning jargon to get to the heart of what was concerning local people tackling topical rural issues including Nutrient Neutrality and Biodiversity Net Gain.

complex network of stakeholders

We held a series of well-attended interactive workshops with elected members in locations across the district. Inviting views from young people is really important and to engage this group, we partnered with the Youth Advisory Board to facilitate workshops in local towns, to engage them in fun activities to get them thinking about local issues. 

Over the past 18 months, we have facilitated 20 workshops, 12 public engagement events in market towns and rural areas, two youth workshops as well as virtual workshops. We’ve analysed thousands of comments shared to help the council establish a picture of the priorities for this rural district over the next twenty years.