11.1 As part of the work for the review of the Local Development Plan, the Council has prepared an updated Settlement Pattern which lists the settlements within the District in order of the how sustainable they appear to be, in terms of their available services and facilities, their location to other settlements which provide services and facilities, and their links to public transport networks.

11.2 The Settlement Pattern is a snapshot in time of the Districts` settlements and forms a baseline as to how they function and relate to one another. It is also a golden thread that runs through the plan in terms of clarity and what development is going to be supported in which tier of the pattern.

11.3 It is important to note that where a settlement is in the pattern does not necessarily dictate where growth is going to go in the future. This is because the policies in the LDP should do that, but it can help to see how successful those policies are. So, for instance if a policy sets out that a settlement is going to grow and provide additional services and facilities, it should in time, if the policy is positively working, move up the settlement pattern. Maldon/Heybridge and Burnham on Crouch are the District`s two towns and therefore do not feature in the table below. The updated Settlement Pattern is listed below and the details behind it can be found on the Council`s website at www.maldon.gov.uk - 

Issues and Options Consultation Questionnaire