Local Plan Tracker | Essex January 2021 Week Commencing 6 February 2017
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Local Plan Tracker | Essex January 2021 Week Commencing 6 February 2017 Initial Stages Regulation 18 – Public consultation Regulation 19 – Publication of submission local plan Regulation 22 – Submitted to Secretary of state Regulation 24 – Examination Approved / adopted Braintree Uttlesford Colchester Tendring Harlow Chelmsford Epping Forest Maldon Brentwood Basildon Rochford Thurrock Southend Castle Point Strutt & Parker 1 struttandparker.com Local Plan Tracker | Essex January 2021 LOCAL AUTHORITY CURRENT POSITION Basildon The new Local Plan was submitted for examination on 28 March 2019 – Inspector Paul Griffiths has been appointed by the Secretary of State to examine the plan. The submitted Local Plan acknowledges that it does not meet housing need in full. Examination hearing sessions have yet to be timetabled. DEFRA wrote to Basildon Borough Council and Essex County Council regarding air quality concerns at A127 junctions within the Borough. Air quality and transport work is being undertaken, with Basildon Borough Council having written to the Planning Inspectorate Service to request a delay to the start of the examination on 28 June 2019. The Planning Inspectorate responded to Basildon Borough Council via email on 5 July 2019, indicating they are content with deferring the EiP to allow for additional works to be undertaken. Following a lengthy hiatus, and the submission of additional evidence by the Council in response to the Ministerial Direction received form DEFRA in June 2019, due to concerns surrounding air quality, the Inspector resumed the examination as of 15 December 2020. Alongside this, the Inspector has issued his initial questions for the Council. These include those relating to housing need and the approach to its provision; the Duty to Cooperate; and provision for Gypsies and Travellers, and Travelling Show-People. The Council has been requested to respond by 31 January 2021. In addition to the Council’s own Local Plan, Basildon Borough Council is working with other authorities within South Essex to produce a Joint Strategic Plan. This is addressed further within this update under separate heading. Braintree The new Local Plan will comprise two parts: Section 1 being prepared jointly with Colchester and Tendring (the North Essex Authorities) and addressing strategic issues such as total housing requirements and garden communities; and Section 2 being prepared by the individual authority and including site-specific allocations. The North Essex Authorities’ Section 1 Local Plan is addressed further within this update under separate heading. The delays and uncertainty surrounding the Section 1 Local Plan have resulted in substantial delays to the examination of Section 2. The Council had anticipated its Section 2 examination hearings taking place in spring / summer 2020, with adoption late 2020 / early 2021. It is now anticipated following the Inspectors Final Report finding the Section 1 Local Plan sound as of 10 December 2020, that hearing sessions for Section 2 will likely be timetables for early / mid-2021. Strutt & Parker 2 struttandparker.com Local Plan Tracker | Essex January 2021 Brentwood Consultation on the Pre-Submission (Regulation 19) Local Plan concluded on 19 March 2019, but the Local Plan has yet to be submitted for examination. The Council is currently consulting on an Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Pre- Submission Local Plan, which entails reduction to the number of dwellings to be provided at four proposed allocations, with an increase in the number of dwellings proposed at Dunton Hills Garden Village before the end of the plan period in order to compensate. This consultation ran until 26 November 2019. The Brentwood Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination on 14 February 2020. Yvonne Wright BSc(Hons) DIPT&CP MSc MRTPI and Mike Worden BA (Hons) Dip TP MRTPI have been appointed to conduct the examination to determine whether the Local Plan is sound. Stage 1 Hearing sessions were held between 1 December and 4 December 2020 relating to strategic matters including Duty to Cooperate and legal compliance; spatial strategy; housing need; affordable housing; employment needs; and Green Belt. Stage 2 hearing sessions will be held between 2 – 12 February 2021. As part of the first phase of hearing sessions, allegations were made that the Council has failed to meet the Duty to Cooperate in preparing its Local Plan. This included strong objections by neighbouring Thurrock Council in relation to this issue. The Inspectors have indicated they will provide a view on whether they consider the Duty to Cooperate has been met ahead of the Stage 2 hearing sessions in February 2021. In addition to the Council’s own Local Plan, Brentwood Borough Council is working with other authorities within South Essex to produce a Joint Strategic Plan. This is addressed further within this update under separate heading. Castle Point The current adopted Local Plan is considerably out-of-date, having been adopted back in 1998. The Council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan. Following concerns of direct Government intervention, on 22 October 2019, the Council agreed a Pre-Submission version of its new Local Plan for public consultation. The New Castle Point (Pre-Submission) Local Plan was out for public consultation until Friday 14 February 2020. The Council submitted the Castle Point Local Plan 2018-2033 to the Secretary of State on 2 October 2020 for examination. The Planning Inspectorate wrote to the Council on 26 November 2020 to inform the Council of a change of Inspector to Phillip Lewis BA (Hons) MA MRTPI. The Inspector has yet to publish his Matters, Issues and Questions, and all dates for the hearing sessions are yet to be confirmed however a timetable is expected imminently. It is therefore anticipated that hearing sessions could start as early as late February 2021, with the adoption of the Castle Point Local Plan expected no sooner than autumn 2021. In addition to the Council’s own Local Plan, Castle Point Borough Council is working with other authorities within South Essex to produce a Joint Strategic Plan. This is discussed further within this update under separate heading. Chelmsford The new Chelmsford Local Plan was formally adopted on 27 May 2020. The Council have recently updated their Strategic Housing Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) evidence base, with landowners, developers and promoters providing up to date site details and information where circumstances have changed since submitted through the last Call for Sites / SHELAA process. Strutt & Parker 3 struttandparker.com Local Plan Tracker | Essex January 2021 Colchester The new Local Plan will comprise two parts: Section 1 being prepared jointly with Braintree and Tendring (the North Essex Authorities) and addressing strategic issues such as total housing requirements and garden communities; and Section 2 being prepared by the individual authority and including site-specific allocations. The North Essex Authorities’ Section 1 Local Plan is addressed further within this update under separate heading. The Council anticipated examination of its Section 2 Local Plan taking place spring / summer 2020, though this was dependent on receipt of the Inspector’s report on Section 1 by late 2019 / early 2020. It is now anticipated following the Inspectors Final Report finding the Section 1 Local Plan sound as of 10 December 2020, that hearing sessions for Section 2 will likely be timetabled for early / mid-2021. The Council has indicated that elements of the Section 2 Local Plan may have to be modified to reflect changes since the plan was submitted in 201. However, as the plan has been submitted for examination, such changes can only be made where required to make the Local Plan sound. Epping Forest The Examination hearing sessions ran until 12 June 2019. A host of issues relating to soundness and legal compliance were raised as part of the Examination. The Inspector issued her post-hearing advice note to the Council on 2 August 2019. This set out a number of actions for the Council if the Local Plan can be made to be sound, including a number of modifications. The Inspector wrote to the Council in a letter dated 16 July 2020, in light of the recent publication of the ONS 2018-based household projections requesting whether the Council consider that there has been a meaningful change in the housing situation. Specifically, the Inspector requested further information on the effect of the 2018 projections vs the 2014 based projections used in the SHMA; if there are any implications on the Plan’s housing requirement having regard to the HMA; and whether the reduced projection in household growth affects the justification for Green Belt release. The Council responded on 4 September 2020, and the responses to this consultation have now been published. The Council has since been working on a schedule of Main Modifications (MMs) to the address the points raised in the Inspector’s note. The Council has submitted the majority of outstanding material requested by the Inspector, as confirmed in a letter from the Inspector to the Council dated 2 October 2020. Within that letter the Inspector confirms a disruption to work commitments in October and November 2020, and that a revised timeframe for providing a response to the submitted material will follow in due course. Harlow The Harlow Local Development Plan was adopted on 10 December 2020. Maldon Local Development