Local Plan Round-up – May 2017

Central Bedfordshire Council The council has announced a slight delay in progressing the local plan: instead of the draft going before the executive on June 6, it will now happen on June 20.

The reason for the delay is the General Election. The council expects the Plan to be published for its Regulation 18 consultation for eight weeks from July 4. At the same time, the range of reports will also be published including:

• Sustainability Appraisal
• Strategic Housing Market Assessment
• Site Assessment Technical Document (including the results of the Site Assessment process)
• Settlement Capacity Study
• Growth Options Studies
• Viability Study
• Local Communications
• Strategic Green Belt Review

The Regulation 19, pre-submission draft is due for consultation in February 2018.

Epping Forest, Essex

Epping Council has its annual meeting on May 25, although there are not expected to be any surprises in terms of cabinet or other appointments. Several district councillors have been elected to Essex County, including leader Chris Whitbread and Gagan Mohindra.

The council is holding member workshops on the local plan this month, so the programme appears to be on target for a Regulation 19 consultation later in 2017. That said, having received over 3,000 responses to the Regulation 18 consultation last December, we still await the report back to Cabinet on the results, which is now expected in June.

Guildford, Surrey

The council is conducting an update Regulation 19 consultation between 9th June until 24th July. There will be some targeted consultation, focusing only on the amendments to the last Reg 19 Plan.  The consultation is due to be launched on June 8 (despite or because of the General Election) and will run until mid-July.

Sevenoaks, Kent

The council is moving towards the publication of the first ‘Issues and Options’ report this summer, with a second consultation due to commence in early 2018. The Local Plan is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in late 2018 with a view to implementation in 2019.

The council’s priority is to increase housing density in already developed areas with good public transport links. The council will then look at brownfield sites, land owned by the public sector and consider working with other local authorities before developing on the Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances. However, the council is considering urban extensions and new settlements.

Thurrock, Essex

Since Highways England announced the form and route of the new Lower Thames crossing and link roads in April, Thurrock Council is able to press ahead with its local plan. Progress is not likely to be rapid due to the political make-up of the unitary authority with the three main parties having similar number of seats. That said, the local plan timetable is currently being reviewed and it is anticipated it will be released over the summer.

Harlow District, Essex

Harlow Council has its annual meeting on May 25, although there are not expected to be any surprises in terms of portfolios or committees. The local plan appears to be progressing with publication expected for the June (22) cabinet.

Waverley District Council, Surrey

The timetable for the examination in public (EIP) has been released, and the hearings will start on 27 June with Inspector Jonathan Bore. He will also be mindful that the Secretary of State has called in the decision to consent 1,800 new homes at Dunsfold, which has an impact upon deliverability of the local plan and also a recent appeal which determined that Waverley does not have a five-year land supply and requires a 20 per cent buffer now instead of the current five. It is important that local communications are handled in an effective way.

Wealden, East Sussex

Wealden Council published its local plan in March, reducing its target to 14,101 new homes, from 19,509 before. The revised figures are due to the sensitive environmental issues across the District, particularly Ashdown Forest. The revised figures take into account the results of the latest nitrogen deposition monitoring that has been taking place on Ashdown Forest from vehicles and other sources.

It is not clear whether this will be accepted by the Inspectorate or DCLG. Wealden is following the path it needs to follow according to the EU legislation, but does it prevail over housing need?

Basildon, Essex

There are rumours that the delayed Regulation 19 pre-submission consultation which was scheduled to take place in Q3 may not happen until Q4. That said, Basildon has just appointed a programme officer to work on the EIP from next month. There is also a rumour that Basildon is looking to have the draft local plan independently assessed before submission to the inspector. This could potentially delay the plan in the short term but avoid the inspector throwing the plans out.

Later this month, the council will change from the cabinet system to the committee system at its annual meeting next week. This will widen the decision-making process, slowing the process, perhaps significantly. The importance of local communications.

East Hertfordshire

The Inspector has published a note to the Council concerning housing numbers in the Plan, which was submitted at the end of March. She suggests that the Council looks again at its objective assessed need. The next step is for the Council to consider the Inspector’s recommendations and produce a detailed timetable for submission of the updated housing strategy. The timetable will be provided on 26 May, and an overall response to all the questions raised by the Inspector is expected by 9 June.

St Albans, Hertfordshire

All remains quiet in St Albans as the council waits to hear whether its application for a judicial review of the inspector’s report can go ahead. This decision is expected in June. 

Colchester, Essex

Colchester is one of the three councils which have aligned their local plan programmes – the others are Tendring and Braintree. Colchester delayed its Local Plan Committee meeting this week until June 12, after the General Election.

Uttlesford, Essex

A recent projection has suggested that Uttlesford needs to provide around 14,000 homes within their new Local Plan, which amounts to 641 per year. At this current time, the decision-making process for the Local Plan has been temporarily paused. This is to ensure that all decision makers have the best information (the importance of local communications) to make informed decisions on the future of planning and development in the district. Consultations have taken place, and responses to this are being reviewed and taken into consideration for choosing the sites for development. The next stage is for a Local Plan timetable to be written up to support the timings for the decision-making process, which is expected in the coming months.

Welwyn Hatfield

The local plan was submitted on May 15 and Melvyn Middleton has been appointed by the Secretary of State to inspect the plan as to its soundness. As with others, the is likely to come back with some initial observations before setting a timetable for the examination in public.