Chorley Borough Local Plan Review Help file
Overview of the Web site
The web site has two main components - the Written Statement and the Proposals Map. The Written Statement can be found via the button at the top of the page. It has been set out to match the printed Written Statement.
The opening display shows a banner heading with links to the Written Statement, a Map Overview and the Search interface. If you click on the text part of the bar, the display will change within the open window or if you click on the little arrow, a new window will open above the existing window.
Below the screen is split into two halves, with the Policy Legend on the left and the Map Display on the right that displays where the site-specific policies apply.
The system that displays the information is very powerful and it is worth spending few moments to read these notes to familiarise yourself with the various tools and methods that will allow you display what you want to see.
The maps within this web site have been structured to deliver the Plan at as larger scale as possible. This allows regions of the Borough away from the main urban areas to be shown at the same scale as the large scale plans in the printed version. The maps use the same computer data that were used for the printed version and have been created to follow the printed version as closely as possible. However, it is impossible to replicate exactly the colours and pattern styles used in the printed version in a computer system that generates maps from a database. The use of a database to control the display of the Plan, allows the user to search the maps and text more comprehensively than could be attained in other types of web site.
The Written Statement window
The Written Statement provides comprehensive details of the Local Plan and all its polices. The Statement is divided into chapters covering the main policy themes such as Environment, Employment and Housing. To quickly find the text of a particular policy use the search by policy link - typing in the policy number eg HS4 will take you straight to the relevant part of the written statement.
The Map window
The Policy Legend
To the left of the Map are a series of coloured bars that represent the different policy layers of the Map. They have been grouped into sections to match the Written Statement. For example you will find policy HS1 in the Housing section. These sections can be opened and closed individually or all together by using the "Expand All" "Collapse All" links.
Within each section you can switch on or off the individual layers of information by clicking on the boxes on the left hand side. For example if you are only interested in Housing Policy areas, you would select "Collapse All", then in the Housing section, turn on all the Housing Policies.
The Map
The Map that is displayed in the window can show all the site-specific policies in the Plan. Some policies have general application and as such are not shown on the Map. The display also includes a series of Ordnance Survey maps that allow the user to see the policies in relation to the latest map detail. The opening screen shows the whole of the Borough with some locations and the main road network to allow the user to quickly locate their area of interest.
You now have a wide range of choices to examine the policy information.
1. If you want to look at a particular location eg your house, you can use the search link at the top to show the Map around your house using your address or postcode. The search will automatically produce a map for you at a large scale.
2. If you want to see where a particular policy applies eg Housing site, you can turn off all the other policies and just display the policy you are interested in. When you have selected the Policies you wish to see, you can enlarge the Map image to show more detail.
3. If you want to see a larger scale Map of an area you can do this by two methods. First by holding down the left mouse button and dragging across an area to enlarge. Notice that the button below the Map will move to the right. You can also use these buttons to scale the Map up and down by using the + or - or just click one of the intermediate buttons.
4. You can use the arrow buttons at the sides of the Map window to move the Map in any direction. For example if you have enlarged the Map to the scale you want, and think that your area of interest is just off the display, click a button to display the Map in that direction.
5. Once you have zoomed in, you can also click on the Overview Map to locate another part of the Map.
6. To see which Policies are relevant for any location, click on that point on the Map and a list of relevant Policies will appear to the left of the Map. The View Policy link will take you to the Policy text.