1.1 Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) is in the process of preparing a Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP) for the County Borough. The LDP is the Council's land use plan that will establish where and how much new development will take place in the County Borough over the period 2018 - 2033. It will also identify which areas need to be protected from development and will replace the existing Local Development Plan (LDP 2007-2022) once adopted.

1.2 The RLDP will be prepared in line with the Council's adopted Delivery Agreement (DA, April 2018), which sets out the timetable and approach to community consultation. The key starting point in undertaking the review is the currently adopted LDP (2007 - 2022), Annual Monitoring Reports and the Review Report. This Issues and Options Pre-Deposit Participation consultation is the first stage in preparing the RLDP and includes the following documents for consultation:

1. Consultation Paper 1: Priority Issues, Vision & Objectives
2. Consultation Paper 2: Strategic Growth and Spatial Distribution Options (this Paper)
3. Suite of Topic Papers:

• Housing
• Economy, Skills & Employment
• Retail and town centres
• Tourism
• Community Facilities
• Natural Environment
• Historic Environment
• Transport
• Renewable Energy
• Minerals & Waste
• Wellbeing, Health & Equalities
• Recreational Spaces

4. Sustainability Appraisal / Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA / SEA) Scoping Report.
5. Background Evidence Base Papers (Refer to Appendix 1 for full list). All background evidence base papers are grouped and summarised in the relevant topic papers above.
   

1.3 At this stage of the RLDP process, the consultation is focussed on participation and discussions with the key stakeholders identified in the RLDP Delivery Agreement. There is no statutory requirement for the Council to carry out public consultation at this stage. This will take place at the next stage of the process when we consult on the RLDP Preferred Strategy. However, early discussions with key stakeholders is critical for building consensus. This Paper should also be read alongside Consultation Paper 1 and related Topic Papers and Background Papers identified above. Not all the Background Papers are completed at this early stage in the RLDP preparation. As Background Papers are completed the Topic Papers will be updated in terms of the impact and potential policy approaches in the RLDP.

1.4 This Consultation Paper 2 document sets out options for the level of housing and employment development which the plan will need to address. It also presents options in relation to where this future development will take place (spatial distribution) and how it can help tackle key issues identified through the Sustainability Appraisal / Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA / SEA) Scoping Report. We are also seeking your views on the settlement hierarchy.