Agenda item

Report number:     CAB/WS/22/019

Portfolio holder: Councillor David Roach

Lead officers: Julie Baird and Marie Smith

Recommended to Council: (17 May 2022)

That:

1.       The West Suffolk Local Plan Preferred Options (Regulation 18) document, as contained in Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/22/019, together with supporting documents, be approved for the purposes of public consultation.

2.       Delegated authority be given to the Director (Planning and Growth), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning to make minor non-material consequential changes to the documents, as necessary.

(Councillor Sarah Broughton declared a pecuniary interest as she and her husband owned a parcel of land within an area in Great Barton identified within the West Suffolk Local Plan Preferred Options consultation document. She left the meeting during the consideration of this item and did not return, and therefore, she did not take part in the debate or the vote.

Councillors Broughton, Griffiths and Mildmay-White declared localnon-pecuniary interest as appointed shareholder representatives of Barley Homes (Group) Ltd. Councillors Griffiths and Mildmay-White remained in the meeting for the consideration of the item and voted (Councillor Broughton had already declared a separate pecuniary interest and had left the meeting.))

The Cabinet considered this report, which was recommending to Council, approval of the West Suffolk Local Plan Preferred Options document, for the purposes of public consultation.

The West Suffolk Local Plan would cover the period up to 2040.  Upon adoption it would set out the Council’s policies to address housing and employment needs and other associated economic, social and environmental priorities. 

It was an important tool in supporting delivery of West Suffolk Council’s strategic priorities and essential for the continuation of an effective planning service. In addition, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004), required local planning authorities to prepare and keep an up-to-date local plan.

The Preferred Options document (Appendix A) represented the next stage of the plan making process. It was proposed to consult on the Preferred Options Local Plan and supporting documents for eight-plus weeks from Thursday 26 May to Tuesday 26 July 2022.

Appendix A was divided into three parts, namely:

Part One: strategic policies

Part Two: non strategic policies

Part Three: site allocations

A summary of the content of each part was detailed in paragraph 2.2 of the report.

Councillor David Roach, Portfolio Holder for Planning, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including that, subject to Council approval, it was important to note that the plan was still evolving, and no firm decisions had been made at this stage.  The Council would continue to gather evidence throughout the local plan preparation and this consultation was an important aspect of this. Therefore, this was not what the final plan would look like.

The response received from this consultation would help shape the next version of the local plan.  That version would be the document which the Council proposed to submit for examination to the Planning Inspectorate and would be subject to a further round of consultation prior to its submission.

Councillor Roach made specific reference to the work undertaken on the Employment Land Review. Emphasis was placed on the fact that gathering the evidence base for this element of the local plan was still ongoing and evolving.

It had been brought to the Council’s attention that there was an omission in the Employment Land Review that was published in December 2021.  The Jockey club were listed in the document having been surveyed as a stakeholder when they had not been.

The Council had responded to this error, and the consultants had now undertaken a survey with the Jockey Club. Following this survey, they had produced an addendum that would be published alongside the Employment Land Review (ELR).  It should be noted that the ELR was a pure employment needs document – looking at office, industrial and distribution services. 

The Horse Racing Industry Cluster, given their special character and special nature of the industry, was different and required special protection. The Council now had a Memorandum of Co-operation in place with the Horse Racing Industry and the Council would work with them on the evidence that was needed to consider their specific needs.

Councillor Roach added that use of the text ‘Preferred Options’ within local plan-related documentation was specific planning terminology, which was formally recognised as part of the stages required to develop the new local plan.

In response to questions, the Cabinet was informed that:

·         Policies emanating from the emerging local plan would not be given weight as material planning considerations until the examination stage of the local plan development process. This was therefore a paramount consideration when making decisions on planning applications.

·         The principal methods by which the proposed consultation would be undertaken were set out in paragraph 4.4 of the report. This would include a mix of ‘in person’ and virtual events. The consultation dates, including those where ‘in person’ events would be held, would not be published until approval had been given by Council to proceed.

Councillor Roach placed his thanks on record for the outstanding work of relevant officers and the West Suffolk Local Plan Working Group for their excellent contributions in reaching this significant stage of the local plan development process. These sentiments were echoed by his Cabinet colleagues, which included adding their thanks to Councillor Roach for his lead role in the process.

Recommended to Council: (17 May 2022)

That:

1.       The West Suffolk Local Plan Preferred Options (Regulation 18) document, as contained in Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/22/019, together with supporting documents, be approved for the purposes of public consultation.

2.       Delegated authority be given to the Director (Planning and Growth), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning to make minor non-material consequential changes to the documents, as necessary.