Issue - meetings

To consider the Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Local Plan Regulation 19 Pre-Submission document.

At the request of the Chairman, the Planning Policy Team Leader gave a briefing to set out the reasons for the report and recommendations to Council on an Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Local Plan.  He said the report reflected the elevated level of risk around the West of Braintree Garden Community as a consequence of the examination into the North Essex Authorities’ local plans including West of Braintree and the fact that the examiner had asked the three authorities to consider three options.  Braintree District Council was now proceeding with option two, to obtain evidence to satisfy the Inspector’s concerns.  Uttlesford had had legal advice that Uttlesford needed to reflect this elevated level of risk within the Local Plan and to set out what it would do if West of Braintree was not deliverable. 

The report also set out other changes in the Plan including the identification of the strategic policies for the purposes of neighbourhood planning and clarification of the policy relating to impacts on internationally protected sites such as Epping Forest. 

The Planning Policy Team Leader referred to the 2016 based household projections published last month, compared to the 2014 based projections.  He said if these new projections were to be incorporated, the work would need to be commissioned with the SHMA partners, and in a fair and transparent way.  There would be a need for a consultation period with submission on or by 24 January to the Secretary of State.  There was not time to do this.  If submission were to be after 24 Janaury then the standardised methodology would need to be used, however the Government had said it would consider reviewing that methodology if the new household projections would result in the Government’s national delivery target of 300,000 homes year not being met..  Legal advice had been obtained, and in short, there was not sufficient time. 

Other evidence-based updates which were now published were the spatial strategy background paper and the review of employment policies.  The review suggested changes to the Plan, however officers were not recommending changes as they considered such changes did not go to the soundness of the Plan and would dilute the focus of the document. 

The Planning Policy Team Leader set out next steps if the Addendum were to be agreed. 

The Planning Policy Team Leader addressed questions raised by the first public speaker, regarding the possibility that a pause at the time the regulation 19 plan was considered could have allowed for it to be fixed at that point in time.  The Council had made the decision on the advice before them at that point, when the first letter from the North Essex Authorities inspector had been published, which was on 15 June, four days prior to the full Council meeting.  Officers from Braintree District Council had indicated they would select option 2, which had then been confirmed.  The decision of this Council to issue an Addendum related to the third letter of the North Essex  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8