Local Plan Round-up – March 2017

Harlow District, Essex

Forward plans reveal that the draft local plan has, again, been delayed. It is now scheduled to come before Cabinet in June.

Despite local criticism, the council is adamant it will go for a Regulation 19 consultation instead of Reg 18, despite the plan having changed significantly, the Harlow now being designated a Garden Town, and the council only getting 126 responses to its Reg 18 consultation in late 2014. If a Reg 19 consultation happens in the summer, the plan will be submitted later in the year and the plan adopted in 2018.

It also appears that Harlow Council’s objection to Epping Forest allocating some 3,000 homes on the southern border of the town may be reversed – a Special Council Meeting has been called for March 16. The successful application for Harlow to become a Garden town is key to this change of heart as Harlow participated in the application which included those sites.

Epping Forest, Essex

Cabinet is meeting this week (March 9) to discuss the results of the Regulation 18 consultation which concluded just before Christmas. The meeting will confirm the timetable going forward: the Regulation 19 consultation to take place in January/February 2018 with submission to the inspector in May, and the examination in public in autumn 2018. Adoption will be in early 2019.
The implications of some of Epping’s strategic sites being included within the new Harlow and Gilston Garden Town will also be discussed.

Uttlesford, Essex

At the Planning Policy Working Group meeting on February 22, the forward plan for the local plan was tabled. The Regulation 18 consultation would happen in July this year, the Regulation 19 in January 2018 and submission to the inspectorate in March the same year.

Thurrock, Essex

Thurrock Council is still awaiting the announcement from the Government on the route of the Lower Thames Crossing Link Road before it can move ahead substantively with its local plan process, currently scheduled for adoption in 2020.

Basildon, Essex

The Regulation 19 pre-submission consultation was scheduled to take place in the first quarter of this year. Although no delays have been reported, it is likely that timetable will have drifted slightly, with submission to the inspector expected in the second quarter, the EIP early in 2018 and adoption in quarter two 2018.

East Hertfordshire

The District Planning Executive Panel is due to meet this week (March 9) to review the results of the Regulation 19 consultation, which concluded before Christmas, and discuss the submission of the local plan to the inspectorate. If approved, this will happen by the end of the month, with an EIP expected over the summer.

Also to be discussed at that meeting will be the impact of the Garden Town designation for Harlow and Gilston, which was applied for by East Herts and will be led by that council in collaboration with Harlow and Epping.

St Albans, Hertfordshire

All has gone very quiet at St Albans Council. It has lodged a judicial review application to challenge the inspectors view that the council had failed in its duty to cooperate with adjoining authorities. David Hogger, the inspector, invited the council to withdraw its local plan. A decision on whether the judicial review will go ahead will not happen until June, so developers and land owners in the district are in limbo for the time being.

Dacorum, Hertfordshire

Dacorum’s new Single Local Plan process is currently in the process of evaluating sites for allocation, with adoption of these expected in July this year. The local plan will then move towards a Regulation 19, pre-submission consultation in April 2018 and submission in October the same year. An EIP is expected in January 2019 and final adoption of the local plan in June 2019.

Waverley District Council, Surrey

The Inspector has submitted challenging queries to the council in its first response to the local plan submission. These center around greenbelt release, strategic gaps and the deliverability of Dunsfold. For further details, please see our detailed update here.
Farnham Neighbourhood Plan, Surrey

The independent examiner has approved the plan and it is likely to go to referendum in May this year. Click here for the full story.

Mid-Sussex

The planning inspector has increased the local plan annual numbers from 800 to 1,026 per year to take into consideration not only the full objectively assessed need but also 150 homes per year arising from neighbouring Crawley. Click here for the full story.

Central Bedfordshire

This council announced late last year that it was suspending the local plan process pending the publication of the Housing White Paper – it appears to be still considering the implications. In the meantime, the council has continued its community planning events, which are intended to engage local areas and enhance the local plan process – some areas will view these are the first step towards developing a neighbourhood plan.

Guildford, Surrey

The council announced a delay in the local plan process last October for proper assessment of the 32,000 responses. It now aims to submit the completed local plan to the Planning Inspectorate in December this year. The document will then be examined during public hearings in spring 2018 with the council anticipating adopting the plan in December 2018.

Maidstone, Kent

Inspector Robert Mellor is considering the local plan, having conducted an extensive EIP during the latter part of last year. His interim report in December concluded that the council had fulfilled its duty to cooperate and had properly assessed its housing need. A decision on the local plan is expected in the spring with adoption later in the year.