Structure Plan

Structure Planning is a type of spatial planning and is part of urban planning practice in the United Kingdom and Western Australia. A structure plan in any jurisdiction will usually consist of a written component, supported by maps, photographs, sketches, tables and diagrams and a 'plan' component consisting of one or more plans illustrating land use and infrastructure proposals for the area being planned.

In the United Kingdom a structure plan was an old-style development plan required by United Kingdom planning law between 1968 and 2004. Structure plans set out strategic planning policies and formed the basis for detailed policies in local plans. Although no longer prepared, these plans continue to operate in many areas following the commencement of the new development plan system introduced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, due to transitional provisions.

In Western Australia structure plans are commonly prepared at subregional, district and local levels. Typically, subregional structure plans are informed by higher level policy and strategy and deliver sufficient information to identify areas that should be excluded from development, guide the planning of major infrastructure and the broadscale zoning of land at the regional level. Similarly, district structure plans are informed by relevant policies and strategies, any subregional structure plan and by any detailed engineering of major infrastructure affecting that district. Local structure plans repeat this process to the level of local roads, land subdivision, sites for community facilities, parks, utilities, etc. in order to inform the final phase of road and infrastructure construction and the zoning of the land.

Structure plans were first introduced by the 1968 Town and Country Planning Act, as strategic level development plans, prepared either by a county council or by local authorities working jointly together. They consisted of a broad framework of policies looking forward up to 20 years ahead, supported by a "key diagram" showing land use, transport and environmental proposals diagrammatically (that is, not on a locationally specific map base). Local plans, prepared by district rather than county councils, were required to accord with the overall strategy set out in the structure plan.

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