Issue - meetings

The Local Development Scheme (LDS) is a project plan that sets out the timetable to produce new or revised Development Plan Documents which will form the Council’s Local Development Plan. 

This LDS supersedes the version approved by the Committee on 21 November 2022 and sets out a planning work programme for the Council over a three-year period to 2026. The revised timetable will delay consultation on the Proposed Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19) Consultation by approximately eleven months. This is a direct result of the pause on the Local Plan that applied between 22 March and 24 October 2023.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Consider and approve the revised Local Development Scheme (November 2023) at Appendix 1.

The Local Development Scheme (LDS) is a project plan that sets out the timetable to produce new or revised Development Plan Documents which will form the Council’s Local Development Plan. 

This LDS supersedes the version approved by the Committee on 21 November 2022 and sets out a planning work programme for the Council over a three-year period to 2026. The revised timetable will delay consultation on the Proposed Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19) Consultation by approximately eleven months. This is a direct result of the pause on the Local Plan that applied between 22 March and 24 October 2023.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Timeline. A Member of the Committee queried the process between the completion of the plan consultation (Reg 19) and submission to the secretary of state and asked if two months is a long enough in between these two stages. The Interim Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration responded to inform the Committeethat the Regulation 19 Local Plan is the proposed submission document, meaning that before the Council go out for consultation on the Regulation 19 Local Plan, it must come to the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee and then Full Council to seek approval at that stage to go out for consultation and subsequently submit. The Interim Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration continued to explain that no substantial changes can be made to the Regulation 19 Local Plan once it has been agreed to go out to consultation, and following the consultation period, everything that went out for consultation on, and all the subsequent responses will be given to an Independent Planning Inspector for the examination. The Interim Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration informed the Committee that major changes to the Local Plan can only be made following the Reg 19 Consultation if another Reg 19 consultation is carried out. The Member responded to raise that this order of events must mean that the resident responses received during the Reg 19 consultation, do not have a chance to impact the Local Plan submitted to the Secretary of State. The Interim Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration explained to the Committee that the Reg 19 Consultation is hugely important, as the Independent Planning Inspector will be looking at and assessing all of the responses that come in, and judging whether that should mean any changes are needed to the Local Plan in terms of soundness and legal conformity.

b)            Submission by June 2025. A Member of the Committee raised the seriousness of the situation and the importance of submitting the Local Plan by June 2025. The Chair responded to state that if there is a delay or slip in submitting the Local Plan by June 2025, then the Council must re-evaluate how to proceed, due to the significant investment by the Council currently at stake. The Chair agreed that the seriousness of the situation cannot be communicated enough and raised hopes that Members are fully aware of the importance of sticking to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52