Authority Monitoring Report for the Local Plan 1St April 2013 to 31 St March 2014
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Thurrock Borough Council Authority Monitoring Report For the Local Plan 1st April 2013 to 31 st March 2014 DRAFT CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 LOCAL PLAN PROGRESS 2 CONTEXT 5 POLICY PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTS 11 LONDON GATEWAY LOGISTICS PARK LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ORDER (LDO) 34 APPENDIX INTRODUCTION This is Thurrock Council’s tenth annual report. This Authority Monitoring Report covers the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. Section 35 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 required that every local planning authority submitted an Annual Monitoring Report to the Secretary of State by the 31st December every year. The Localism Act 2011 and Town and Country Planning Regulations 2012 set out revised requirements for monitoring. Local planning authorities are still required to publish information monitoring progress on the implementation of their Local Development Scheme and planning policies included in their development plan documents at least on an annual basis, however the requirement to submit the Annual Monitoring Report to the Secretary of State by 31 December has been removed Act and the document renamed the Authority Monitoring Report (AMR). The Localism Act 2011 also created the duty to co-operate which places a legal duty on local planning authorities and other specified organisations to co-operate with each other to address strategic issues relevant to their areas. The Regulations require the AMR to give details of what action the Council has taken relating to the duty to co-operate. This Report is also written against a local background whereby, on 12 February 2014, Cabinet authorised the preparation of a new Local Plan for Thurrock to replace the Adopted Core Strategy. This will in turn mean that the scope and nature of future AMRs will be revised to reflect the programme for preparing the new Local Plan and its future policy aims, objectives and outcomes. SCOPE AND STRUCTURE OF THE AUTHORITY MONITORING REPORT (AMR) The monitoring data contained within this report is broken down into three sections; 1. An overview of the progress with Local Plan preparation, including a report on activity relating to the duty to cooperate. 2. The Thurrock Context. Contextual indicators establish the social, environmental and economic circumstances of the Borough. 3. An analysis of policy performance and effects utilising a range of indicators. These include Core Output and Local Output and Significant Effects Indicators that are tailored to particular local circumstances as well as the achievement of sustainable development objectives. While the Core Output Indicators and the national indicator set have now been withdrawn by DCLG, it is considered that the Core Output Indicators guidance still provides a useful basis for the monitoring report and they remain in use for the Council’s own monitoring purposes. The adopted Contextual and Core Output Indicators are listed in Chapter 7 of the Adopted Core Strategy. In the following sections of this Report, the indicators refer to any relevant policies in the Local Development Documents (LDD) and to saved policies from the Thurrock Borough Local Plan 1997. The saved policies from the Thurrock Borough Local Plan and the Essex County Council First Review Minerals Local Plan are set out in Appendix 7 of the Adopted Core Strategy. Thurrock Council Authority Monitoring Report 2014 1 LOCAL PLAN PROGRESS Thurrock Local Plan The Regulations require the AMR to provide information about the timetable specified in the Local Development Scheme (LDS) for the preparation of the Local Plan and Supplementary Planning Documents. It must also specify the stage the document has reached in its preparation and, if the document’s preparation is behind the timetable, the reasons for this. 2013 LDS The former LDS was approved by the Council in April 2013. This made provision for the following Development Planning Documents (DPDs). • Thurrock Site Allocations Local Plan (SALP) • Core Strategy and Policies for the Management of Development Focused Review: Consistency with National Planning Policy Framework DPD • Core Strategy and Policies for the Management of Development Focused Review: Broad Locations and Strategic Sites DPD • Core Strategy and Policies for the Management of Development Focused Review: Policy CSTP7 Network of Centres and, Land at Arena Essex, North of A1306, West Thurrock DPD • Minerals and Waste Local Plan • Gypsy and Travellers Local Plan The adoption by the Council of a new LDS on 12 February 2014 meant that, with the exception of the Core Strategy Focused Review: Consistency with the National Planning Policy Framework, the ongoing production of all of the other DPDs referred to above will now be merged with the preparation of a new Local Plan for the Borough. The Core Strategy Focused Review: Consistency with the National Planning Policy Framework was considered by an Inspector at an Examination in Public on 8th April 2014 and is now progressing to Adoption. 2014 LDS Thurrock’s currently adopted Plan is the ‘Core Strategy and Policies for Management of Development’ (Core Strategy), which was adopted in December 2011. On 12 February 2014, Cabinet authorised the preparation of a new Local Plan for Thurrock and on the 9th April 2014 approved the publication of a new LDS. This came into effect on the 1st May 2014 and committed the Council to preparing the following Local Plan documents to replace the Core Strategy: • Thurrock Local Development Scheme 2014-2017 • Thurrock Statement of Community Involvement (First Revision) • Thurrock Local Plan • Thurrock Local Plan Policies Map In addition to the production of these Local Plan documents, the Council will also continue to progress the preparation of a number of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) during the period covered by the LDS. These include the following: • Developer Contributions SPD Thurrock Council Authority Monitoring Report 2014 2 • Design and Standards SPD • Green Grid SPD • Lakeside Delivery and Implementation SPD • Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule. As required by the regulations the LDS sets out a high level programme, including key milestones, for preparing the new Local Plan. The full timetable to 2018 is reproduced at the end of this section. However, since the LDS was published in April, the Government has announced a further delay in making a decision on the route and location of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing. This has implications for the programme for preparing the Local Plan and will necessitate an amendment to the timetable set out in the LDS to allow the statutory plan- making process to properly reflect the planning, transport and environmental issues and opportunities arising from a future Government decision on the scheme. Duty to Cooperate The Localism Act (2011) and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) created a legal duty on local planning authorities, county councils and prescribed public bodies to “engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis” with each other, in the preparation of Local Plans and other planning policy documents relating to sustainable development, that cover strategic matters. This is known as the ‘Duty to Cooperate’. The Council is undertaking a Duty to Cooperate Protocol. The purpose of this is to set out how Thurrock Council intends to cooperate with other local authorities and other public bodies in the preparation of the Local Plan and other planning documents covering strategic matters. This will ensure that cross-boundary issues are considered and planned appropriately and that we produce effective policies that meet future needs of the area. This will be reported to Cabinet in early 2015. Thurrock Council Authority Monitoring Report 2014 3 Thurrock Local Development Scheme Timetable Q1 = Jan/Feb/Mar, Q2 = Apr/May/Jun, Q3 = Jul/Aug/Sep, Q4 = Oct/Nov/Dec 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Local Development Adoption Scheme Statement of Community SCI PubC. Adoption Involvement SUB - Pub ED&T I&OPubC. PP DP-Pub C PP E I P EIP/IR Adoption Con Thurrock Local Plan SUB - Pub PP DP-Pub C PP E I P EIP/IR Adoption Policies Map Con Community Infrastrucutre Levy (CIL) SCI PubC = Statement of Community Involvement Public Consultation ED&T =Evidence Development and Testing I&O PubC. = Issues and Options Public Consultation PP = Plan Preparation DP-PubC = Draft Plan Public Consultation SUB-PubCon = Submission Public Consultation EIP = Examination in Public EIP/IR = Examination in Public/ Inspectors Report THURROCK CONTEXT This section sets out the key contextual characteristics of the Borough. AN INTRODUCTION TO THURROCK Thurrock is located on the north of the Thames, twenty miles east of central London and has a population of 160,849 (ONS Mid-Year Population Estimates 2013). The Borough covers 165 sq km and has a diverse range of land uses and associated environmental issues. More than half of the land in Thurrock is designated Green Belt and the Borough has over 18 miles of riverfront. Much of the riverside area of Thurrock is highly urbanised with a mixture of industrial and residential development at the west and eastern ends of the Borough. The Borough has a number of main settlements including Grays, Stanford/Corringham, South Ockendon and Tilbury, together with a number of villages in the Green Belt. Thurrock also has the developing community of Chafford Hundred and the Lakeside Regional Shopping Centre located west of Grays and east of the M25. Thurrock has a diverse and thriving economy with logistics and distribution and retailing as major employment sectors. The construction of a major port and employment development at the former Shell Haven refinery site is now underway. Thurrock benefits from a good location in terms of transport. The M25 London Orbital Motorway passes through the Borough, as does the A13 London to Southend trunk road, which connects with the M25 (Junction 30) just north of the Dartford Tunnel (Junction 31) and the Queen Elizabeth Bridge.