Under the new planning system put in place in 2004, the South East Plan will become the statutory planning strategy for the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) which covers , Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and East and West Sussex .

SEERA has been asked to prepare policies for future housing and other matters by the Government for the period from 2006 to 2026 with a view to being approved by the Secretary of State by 2007. SEERA will submit the South East Plan to Government in the Spring of 2006 after which formal consultation and public inquiry will follow during 2007. At a local level therefore the Kent County Council and Medway Council will be presenting local views to SEERA and central Government. It will be obvious from this timetable that any land owner with land that has possible future strategic planning potential is taking action now to ensure that their land has the best possible chance for inclusion in the local development framework (LDFs replacing local plans) and specifically in the housing allocation development plan document.

As with all major planning schemes, there is a cost and successful promotion of your land to the eventual granting of the planning approval can also require infinite patience and time. We have just come to the successful outcome of two schemes where we acted for the farming land owning clients after some eight or nine years patient input!