Decision details

RECOMMENDED that:

1.    Council agree the draft Local Plan (Appendix A) and Consultation Strategy (Appendix B) of the  Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report.

2.    Council agree to the Local Development Scheme being updated and published to reflect the timescales set out in the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report.

RESOLVED that:

1.    subject to agreement of the recommendation set out at 2.1 of the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report, the draft Local Plan (Appendix A) of the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report and other supporting consultation material be published for a period of public consultation starting on Thursday 8 February and ending on Monday 26 March 2018.

2.    minor changes to the draft Local Plan and other supporting material produced prior to the consultation be agreed with the Executive Member for Planning and Transport in consultation with the Chief Officer: Planning, Transport and Countryside.

1.    It is important that the Council has an up-to-date and robust planning framework to guide development which reflects current national policy and guidance. Production of the draft LP supports the Council’s desire of having a plan-led approach to development rather than reacting to developers’ proposals. The Government is clear that local authorities should have up-to-date plans and should seek to review plans every five years, or risk Government intervention. The preparation of the LP will support the priorities set out in the Council Plan 2015 – 2019, in particular; ‘A strong and resilient economy’ and ‘A clean, green, growing and sustainable place’.

2.    3.2 The Regulations1 require that the LP is prepared in consultation with the local community and other stakeholders. The proposed consultation will allow continued engagement and comments received will help inform the content of the final Plan to be submitted to the Government.

3.    Local planning authorities are required to publicise their intended timetables for producing a local plan in their Local Development Scheme, which must be published on the website and kept up-to-date2.

1.    The option of not preparing the LP would leave the Council vulnerable to a pattern of development in the Borough being led by developers and landowners through planning applications and potential appeals as policies and allocations would not be up-to-date. It could also ultimately lead to government intervention.

2.    It is a statutory requirement under the planning regulations

None