SOUTH Hams Council has announced that it is increasing its timetable by a year for the creation of Our Plan, the strategic master plan for development that will help shape the future of the area until 2031.

The announcement was made in the February edition of the plan newsletter, which explained that more time was needed to consider how the South Hams is likely to change over the next 15 years.

But the council stressed that the changed timetable would mean more opportunities for residents to engage in making the plan, as the dealine for public consultation is being moved from March 2015 to April 2016.

Planning spokesman Cllr Michael Hicks said: 'There are many ­reasons behind the ­decision by the executive to extend the timetable, but the main one is that we're focused on getting it right. Preparing a new local plan – Our Plan – is a mammoth task and somewhat different from the Local Develop-ment Framework process used some eight years ago.

'We're now obliged to consult with out neighbouring authorities. We need to relate our planned growth to population shift and the available development land for both housing and employment need.

'We also need to protect the character of our area while planning for a sustainable future. In short, this is a critical balancing act that needs us to gather a great deal of technical evidence.

'We'll also continue to look at a range of alternative methods of housing delivery, such as increased self-building and co-housing projects, community land trusts and low-impact housing, all of which could also help us address the issue of housing affordability.'

One delaying factor noted in the newsletter was identifying ­sufficient land. The Coalition's National Planning Policy Framework, introduced in 2012, requires local authorities to be able to point to enough available land for housing to meet the requirements of the next five years.

If councils cannot do so, in order to stimulate housebuilding, the framework says that the 'presumption in favour of sustainable development' should apply, putting those applying for planning permission in a stronger position and taking the power to control local development out of the hands of councils and residents.

Asked if it was proving difficult to identify enough housing land, a South Hams Council spokesman said: 'Yes it is. It seems there's been a good response to our request for sites, which started towards the end of last year, but only some of the land has been suitable. We're continuing to search.

'At the moment we believe the council has the equivalent of 4.2 years' land supply. This is in real terms, as of now, and not necessarily related to Our Plan.

'This was tested on appeal for the K5 site in Kingsbridge and the planning inspector, who held the appeal, helpfully did his own calculation, with the result mentioned above.'

The revised timetable for Our Plan can be seen at http://www.south">www.south hams.gov.uk/ourplan.