Agenda item

This report provides an update on the key matters relating to the emerging Local Plan:

a)    Update on the preparation of the emerging Local Plan up to now;

b)    Update on next steps, including likely need to re-consult at Regulation 19 stage.

Recommended          -           That the report be noted.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the key matters relating to the emerging Local Plan, comprising information on:

a)         the preparation of the emerging Local Plan up to now;

b)         the next steps, including likely the need to re-consult at Regulation 19 stage.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Marlene Haworth, was in attendance to introduce the report, but apologised that she was not in a position to answer any detailed questions on the technical content.

The report indicated that work had reached an advanced stage in the preparation of the new Local Plan for Hyndburn.  Once adopted, the new Plan would replace the saved elements of the 1996 Local Plan and the 2012 Core Strategy.  The two key documents representing the Local Plan for Hyndburn would, therefore, become the new Local Plan, which would contain updated Strategic Policies and Site Allocations, and the adopted Development Management Development Plan Documents (DPD) 2018, which contained local (non-strategic) policies. The key stages of the Local Plan adoption process, according to the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 were provided as Table 1 in the report.  A summary is as follow:-

·        Regulation 18      Preparation (including Public Participation)

·        Regulation 19      Publication (including Public Participation) *current stage*

·        Regulation 20      Representations on the Local Plan

·        Regulation 22      Submission of documents and information to the Secretary of State

·        Regulation 24      Independent examination

·        Regulation 25      Publication of the recommendations of the appointed person

·        Regulation.26      Adoption

The emerging Plan had already been through 3 rounds of consultation as part of Regulation 18 of the process.  This stage related to the initial preparation of a Plan, including consulting on alternative spatial strategies and initial site assessments of potential development allocations.  The Plan was now at the Regulation 19 consultation stage, which usually preceded the submission of the Local Plan (and all associated evidence base and other supporting material) to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination.  The version of the Local Plan consulted on at this stage was intended to represent the settled view of the Council on what the adopted Plan should contain and was also known as the “Pre-submission” or “Publication” Plan.  Following the consultation, the Council also needed to submit any representations that had been made to the consultation as well as the Council’s response to the comments (including any further proposed modifications if it had them).  The Examination process would usually then begin.

For a variety of reasons, including Covid19, staff departures and recruitment issues, there had been a number of delays in the preparation of the latest Local Plan since the review first commenced.  In addition, whilst a Regulation 19 consultation had taken place (between November 2022 and January 2023, following Member approval to consult at the March 2022 Full Council meeting), it had emerged that certain procedural steps were not followed during the consultation.  Therefore, the Council had taken legal advice which had recommended that a Regulation 19 consultation was carried out again.

As a number of important issues had been raised during the last consultation and there had been changes to Government guidance which affected policy, a further consultation now gave an opportunity to address some of these before the Plan was sent to the Planning Inspector.

The intention, therefore, was to re-publish a modified version of the previous consultation document and invite all those previously consulted to make comments.  Additional supporting information, such as key evidence base documents, which had not previously been published, would also be made publicly available as part of the consultation.

At this stage, it was not possible to accurately estimate how long the proposed revisions to the Plan would take to complete (particularly if they required further evidence to be produced) or indeed if changes were necessary to address all the issues.  However, an indicative timetable was presented (which mirrored the stages set out in Table 1).  Once the dates could be confirmed, a revised timetable would be published in the Local Development Scheme on the Council’s website, but the timetable below could be taken as an interim guide.

Regulation 18 – Preparation of a Local Plan

This stage was now complete, with the last consultation at Regulation 18 ending in January 2020

Regulation 19 – Publication of a Local Plan

A revised consultation was now being prepared which was likely to take place in early 2024. 

Regulation 20 – Representations relating to a Local Plan

Regulation 20 was effectively the same stage as Regulation 19, but related to the formal consultation process/period.

Regulation 22 – Submission to the Secretary of State

Following consultation at Regulation 19 and 20 stages, the Council would collate all the responses received, package together all the relevant supporting information and formally submit these to the Planning Inspectorate.  Submission to the Inspectorate would take place as soon as possible after the Regulation 19/20 consultation ended and all submission material had been assembled – likely mid-2024.

Regulation 24 – Independent Examination

The date any formal hearings commence would be dependent on the Inspectorate’s timetable and initial questions might be raised by the Inspector in the period preceding the hearings.  A large volume of Local Plans might be submitted to the Inspectorate in 2024 (in order to meet the Government’s proposed transition deadlines relating to planning system reforms).  This might lead to some delay in receiving a confirmed date but the Examination should be set for around 3 months after submission.  An estimate of when the Examination hearings could commence was towards the end of 2024. 

Regulation 25 – Publication of the recommendations of the appointed person

This date was dependent on the progress and outcome of the Examination.

Regulation 26 – Adoption

Assuming that there were no issues of ‘soundness’ raised through the Inspector’s final report then the Council would consider the recommendations, and formally adopt the Plan via a full Council meeting.  Given that Examinations typically took around 12-18 months to conclude, the earliest this could be was 2025. 

There was no prescribed timescale for implementing a Local Plan from the start of the process (Regulation 18) through to adoption (Regulation 26).  However, the Government had made it clear through various announcements that it wished to see Local Plans progressed as fast as possible. Timescales were heavily influenced by the resources available, the complexity of the topics raised within the Plan, and the scale of objections received.

The Chair read aloud a question which had been submitted in advance by Councillor Carole Haythornthwaite, as follows:

“I would like to be clear about what procedures were not followed, resulting in delaying sending the Local Plan to the Inspectorate.  As a member of the Local Plan group I would have expected to be told of this.

Residents have been advised that the Local Plan and their representations were being submitted to the Inspectorate and would be back with recommendations by the end of this year.  It is now clear that there will be delay of up to a year, leaving residents’ concerns to fester into 2025.”

The Leader responded by indicating that the main procedural issue with the last consultation had been that an updated Sustainability Appraisal (a document which assesses the sustainability of a proposed Plan and which accompanied each stage during its preparation) had not been not published.  The Council had received legal advice which had recommended that the consultation was undertaken again, ensuring that a Sustainability Appraisal was published for comment alongside the Plan itself.

The Leader added that this was an unfortunate human error, which would cause some delay, but which was being rectified as quickly as possible.

Councillor Noordad Aziz noted that there would be additional implications of revisiting the Regulation 19 consultation, particularly around potential additional costs, the compilation of further comments from residents and ensuring that the original consultation responses were not overlooked.  He also asked what procedures would be put in place to ensure that future consultation stages would be carried out correctly.

The Leader apologised for the situation and reiterated that the Regulation 19 consultation would recommence afresh.  She would also ask the Planning and Transportation Manager to review how to prevent the situation from recurring and to provide a further report giving an indication of any potential additional costs caused by repeating the steps at Regulation 19.

Councillor Kimberley Whitehead asked if the Sustainability Appraisal had been carried out, but simply not published.  She also asked if there were any implications for progress on the proposed Huncoat Garden Village (HGV) development.  The Leader confirmed that the Sustainability Appraisal document had in fact been completed.  There should not be any significant adverse implications anticipated in relation to the HGV proposals, however, she would discuss the matter further with the Planning and Transportation Manager.

The Chair suggested that a further report on this topic be added to the next meeting of the Committee.

Resolved                                 (1)   To note the contents of the report.

(2)   That a further report on the Local Plan, to provide answers to the questions raised in the debate, be provided at the next meeting of the Committee