Core Strategy Baseline Analysis Study - Bradford Metropolitan ...

on its own to meet the demands of a growing workforce. Links with neighbouring districts will
be increasingly important to connect people with training and employment. For some, the
urban centres of Leeds will provide these opportunities, but for many of our rural
communities, Craven is more important.
Population trends also mean that we need to be planning for new homes and housing
developments. The Local Development Framework (LDF) is a new system for making sure
our land, buildings, transport links and green spaces are planned to provide us with
maximum wellbeing and to meet people’s needs. The LDF will complement our priorities in
The Big Plan, so that the council takes account of all of the economic development,
transport, and housing activities that will shape our places across the district in the coming
years.
The LDF will help the Council work with its partners to plan for our growing population: to
plan for homes, jobs, healthcare, education, shops and recreation spaces. It will ensure that
planning and land-use strategies make the district a focus in West Yorkshire for sustainable
economic growth, with high quality employment and housing.
1.5 Scope and Purpose of the Baseline Analysis Report
This report sets out the baseline position for the Bradford District, including the key issues
and parameters which will inform the preparation of the Core Strategy and where appropriate
the other Development Plan Documents of the Local Development Framework (LDF).
Essentially this document comprises a concise and comprehensive analysis of a wide range
of topics relevant to the district’s social, economic and environmental characteristics. The
intention is that all policies and proposals in the Core Strategy be justified by the relevant
evidence, and so this report includes data which have highlighted the district’s current
position and conclusively identified the issues to be faced in the future.
In accordance with good practice advice by the Planning Advisory Service, including the
online Plan Making Manual, Bradford Council considers the gathering of evidence as an
iterative process which must be continued throughout the plan preparation process. The
reason for this is because the evidence base is key to other aspects of plan production
including, Sustainability Appraisal, Options Generation and Community Engagement. The
figure below explains the linkages between these different areas (Source PAS March 2008).
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