Duty to Co-Operate Statement
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Statement of Compliance with the Duty to Co-operate September 2020 Page intentionally left blank 1 Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3 2. What does the Duty to Co-operate mean for Fareham .................................................. 5 3. How Fareham has co-operated with others in the production of the Local Plan ............ 8 4. How Strategic Priorities and Cross Boundary Issues have been considered ............... 19 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 23 Appendix 1 – Duty to Cooperate Record of Engagement ................................................ 24 Appendix 2 – Fareham Borough Council Local Plan Consultation: Duty to Co-operate invitation, January 2020 ................................................................................................... 33 Appendix 3 – Regulation 18 Local Plan Consultation Invitation to Neighbouring Authorities ........................................................................................................................ 34 Appendix 4 – Regulation 18 Supplement DtC Meeting with Neighbouring Authorities .... 35 Appendix 5 – Environment Agency SEA/SA Update ....................................................... 36 Appendix 6 – Homes England Teleconference Follow-up ............................................... 37 Appendix 7 – Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Group confirmation on behalf of NHS organisations ............................................................................................ 38 Appendix 8 – Letter to Solent LEP ................................................................................... 44 Appendix 9 – Portsmouth City Council response to Regulation 18 consultation .............. 45 2 1. Introduction 1.1 The ‘Duty to Co-operate’ became a legal requirement under the provisions of the Localism Act, which came into force in November 2011. Section 33A of this Act1 amended the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, by inserting a new legal requirement referred to as the ‘Duty to Co-operate’. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) February 2019 refers to the Duty to Cooperate. It states that local planning authorities and county councils are under a duty to cooperate with each other, and with other prescribed bodies, on strategic matters that cross administrative boundaries. Local Planning Authorities (LPA’s), County Councils and public bodies are expected to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis to maximise the effectiveness of Local Plan preparation in the context of strategic cross boundary matters. This duty is termed the Duty to Co-operate. 1.2 The duty as set out in Section 110 of the Localism Act: • relates to sustainable development or use of land that would have a significant impact on at least two local planning areas or on a planning matter that falls within the remit of a county council • requires that councils set out planning policies to address such issues • requires that councils and public bodies 'engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis' to develop strategic policies • requires councils to consider joint approaches to plan making. 1.3 The bodies prescribed for the purpose of section 33A(1)(c) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as Town and Country Planning (Local Planning (England) Regulations as amended by the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012: • Environment Agency • Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (Historic England) • Natural England • Mayor of London • Civil Aviation Authority • Homes England • Clinical Commissioning Groups • National Health Service Commissioning Board • Office of the Rail Regulator • Highways Agency • Transport for London • Integrated Transport Authorities • Highway Authorities • Marine Management Organisation 1.4 LEPs are not defined by statute, they are not covered by the 'duty to cooperate'. However, LEPs are identified in the regulations as bodies that those covered by duty 'should have regard to' when preparing local plans and other related activities. Local Nature Partnerships2 (LNPs) are also prescribed in the regulations as bodies which local authorities 'should have regard to' given their role in the management of natural environmental assets, supporting biodiversity and, in particular, identifying Nature Improvement Areas. 1 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/20/section/110/enacted 2 https://hantswightlnp.wordpress.com/ 3 1.5 The NPPF states that in order to demonstrate effective and on-going joint working, strategic policy-making authorities should prepare and maintain one or more statements of common ground, documenting the cross boundary strategic matters being addressed and progress in cooperating to address these issues. Paragraph 20 sets out the strategic issues where co-operation might be appropriate, namely: • Housing (including affordable housing), employment, retail, leisure and other commercial development; • Infrastructure for transport, telecommunications, security, waste management, water supply, wastewater, flood risk and coastal change management, and the provision of minerals and energy (including heat); • Community facilities (such as health, education and cultural infrastructure); and, • Conservation and enhancement of the natural, built and historic environment, including landscapes and green infrastructure, and planning measures to address climate change mitigation and adaptation. 1.6 The Fareham Local Plan 2037 has been prepared with full regard to the Duty to Cooperate. The Fareham Local Plan 2037 provides the overarching spatial strategy for the Fareham Borough guiding the location, scale and type of future development up until 2037, as well as providing detailed development management policies. 1.7 Local Planning Authorities are expected to be able to provide evidence of having successfully cooperated to plan for strategic issues with cross boundary impacts when their Local Plans are submitted for independent examination. Demonstrating the Duty to Cooperate is an important part of ensuring the soundness of any Local Plan. This Duty to Cooperate statement accompanies the Publication version (Regulation 19) Fareham Local Plan 2037 and sets out how the Council has carried out the Duty to Cooperate in preparing the Local Plan. The purpose of this statement is to show how the key strategic issues affecting the Borough have been considered under the Duty to Cooperate, particularly in relation to neighbouring planning authorities and other public bodies. 1.8 The purpose of this report is to provide information on the constructive, active and continuous process of engagement which has underpinned the preparation of Fareham Local Plan. It is published in support of the Regulation 19 Publication version and details the Duty to Cooperate activities that have been undertaken throughout the Plan review process. 4 2. What does the Duty to Co-operate mean for Fareham 2.1 Fareham Borough Council shares administrative boundaries with Gosport, Eastleigh, Portsmouth and Winchester. Fareham is a lower-tier authority and forms a two-tier system with Hampshire County Council forming the upper tier and providing public services including education, highways, libraries and social services. Figure 1: Location of Fareham Borough 2.2 The Council is also a member of the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH). The partnership formed in 2003 and supports the sustainable economic growth of the sub region and facilitates the strategic planning functions necessary to support that growth. 2.3 In practice the ‘duty to co-operate’ affects Fareham in the following ways to ensure cross boundary strategic issues are considered: • Working with neighbouring local authorities; • Working with sub-regional Partnership for South Hampshire authorities; • Working with Hampshire County Council; • Working with prescribed bodies such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and the NHS; • Working with other public bodies and infrastructure providers. 2.4 Co-operation works in two ways and it is not always possible to reach agreement with neighbouring authorities or relevant bodies. It is preferable to work with other authorities and organisations throughout the period of preparing a local plan to identify early in the process the strategic issues and work collaboratively to address these, but this has to be qualified: • For the Duty to co-operate to be most effective, those authorities seeking to deal with strategic issues should collaborate from the outset. However, neighbouring local authorities are at very different stages in the production of their Local Plans 5 affecting the extent of joint working or other forms of co-operation that can take place. • In some cases, the main driver for dealing with cross-boundary issues will arise not in Fareham, but in other local authority areas. In such cases it is reasonable to expect those adjoining local authorities to take the lead in identifying and addressing the strategic cross boundary issues. 2.5 The Council has identified a number of key cross-boundary challenges and opportunities through the development of the Local Plan and ongoing engagement with our neighbouring authorities and other relevant bodies. These are summarised below: Housing • Seeking to ensure that unmet need from the sub-region can be met and planned for