Castle Point is a great place to live but we need to recognise the challenges that the future holds, such as ensuring that as our children grow up they have the opportunity to live and work in the Borough, and we need to plan for those changes. We need to provide affordable homes, create social housing and regenerate our town centres.

The needs of the Borough have been carefully assessed, and along with all Councils in the East of England, Castle Point is developing a plan to enable us to respond to the challenges it faces such as the requirement to deliver 5,000 new homes and 2,500 new jobs by 2026.

We have drafted a plan to do this called the Core Strategy. The Core Strategy, sets out our views on where to deliver new homes and jobs, along with the roads and new facilities needed to reduce congestion and ensure that the needs of residents in Castle Point continue to be met into the future.

The Core Strategy has been developed over three years using evidence collected through studies and through consultation with the public and other stakeholders. We have now prepared a proposed publication draft of the Core Strategy that we would like to submit to the Government for examination.

Before we submit the document however, we want to make sure that it responds as best as possible to the needs and concerns of local residents, businesses, other service providers and those with special interests such as wildlife and heritage.

We have therefore published the proposed publication draft of the Core Strategy for consultation from the 9^th January – 20^th March 2009. All representations made during this period will be given full consideration.

The representations will be analysed and reported to the elected members of the Council in the summer of 2009 to make a decision on how to progress with Core Strategy.

The decisions that need to be made in respect of the Core Strategy are difficult and therefore your views are important. I would therefore like to thank you for taking your time to read this document.

http://castlepoint.limehouse.co.uk/portal/