District Council Council

Date of Meeting 10 December 2019 Title of Report North West District Council Local Plan Partial Review Statement of Common Ground This is not a Key Decision and is not on the Forward Plan Lead Member Cllr. Sheila Scott - Planning, Housing Strategy, Economic Development Report Author Development Strategy Manager Corporate Priority A Place to Live

1. What is this report about?

1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek the agreement of Council, under the Duty to Co-operate, to sign a Statement of Common Ground prepared by North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC) to support the submission of their Local Plan – partial review to the Secretary of State.

2. Recommendation(s) to Council

2.1 That Council agrees for the Planning and Economic Development Group Manager to sign the North West Leicestershire Local Plan Partial Review – Statement of Common Ground (as attached at Appendix A to this report).

3. Reason for Decisions Recommended

3.1 To fulfil the Duty to Co-operate between the Local Planning Authorities and support NWLDC in undertaking a partial review of their existing Local Plan.

4. Matters to consider

4.1 Background

All Local Planning Authorities are required to have up-to-date Local Plans in place to shape and deliver growth within their areas. Members may be aware that the NWLDC Local Plan was adopted in November 2017 following an Examination carried out by an independent Planning Inspector.

As part of the examination process, the Inspector required the inclusion of a local plan review policy (Policy S1), which required NWLDC to commence a review of their local plan within three months of adopting it, for two main reasons:  A shortage of employment Land identified in the Plan up to 2031 against what the evidence identified as being required, and  The possibility of needing to accommodate additional housing that may arise as unmet needs from City

NWLDC Local Plan Policy S1 also required this Plan Review to be submitted for examination within two years from the commencement of the review. The Policy continued on to say:

‘In the event that the reviewed plan is not submitted within two years then this Local Plan will be deemed to be out of date.’

On this basis, if a Local Plan is not submitted for Examination by February 2020, the adopted NWLDC Local Plan will be considered ‘out of date’ and this will potentially have the negative implications for the NWLDC area associated with not having an up to date plan in place.

Leicester City has only very recently quantified its unmet housing need figure, and agreement is now needed on how this unmet need should be re- distributed across the Districts and Boroughs of Leicestershire, and because of this NWLDC has been unable to progress a full, substantive review of their Local Plan. This will remain the case until a wider Statement of Common Ground is prepared for all of Leicester and Leicestershire to agree the re- distribution of unmet needs from Leicester City – whilst work on this other, wider Statement of Common Ground has started and is currently ongoing, it is not expected to be finalised until next year, and it will come before this Council for a decision in due course, although the precise timescale for this is not yet determined.

Due to these difficulties, NWLDC are now seeking to progress just a partial review of their Local Plan to solely amend Policy S1 by extending the timescale by which they have to submit their full, substantive Local Plan review. No other amendments to the existing adopted Local Plan are proposed through this partial review. More fundamental issues will be dealt with through the substantive review in due course, which Blaby District Council (BDC) will be consulted on.

Officers are of the view that due to the very narrow scope of NWLDC’s proposed partial review, the implications for BDC are minimal, and there are no concerns identified in relation to signing up to the proposed Statement of Common Ground attached at Appendix A. Indeed, signing up to it will discharge this Council’s Duty to Co-operate set out in legislation.

4.2 Proposal(s)

It is proposed that Council agrees that the Planning and Economic Development Group Manager signs the Statement of Common Ground set out in Appendix A, and return this to NWLDC to discharge this Council’s obligations under the Duty to Co-operate.

4.3 Relevant Consultations

NWLDC has publically consulted on its proposed Local Plan Partial Review. Furthermore, NWLDC has also consulted all partner authorities within Leicester and Leicestershire in preparing the supporting Statement of Common Ground attached at Appendix A. The Statement of Common Ground is currently with the seven District and Borough Councils, Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council for agreement to sign up to it.

4.4 Significant Issues

Legal implications

The Council is required to fulfil its Duty to Co-operate, as set out in the Localism Act 2011, in matters related to plan-making, both in relation to BDC’s own local plan, and in relation to local plans in neighbouring authorities, where there are strategic cross boundary matters to be considered. Statements of Common Ground are a useful tool to demonstrate the Duty to Co-operate has been discharged.

5. What will it cost and are there opportunities for savings?

5.1 There are no cost implications to BDC from this report.

6. What are the risks and how can they be reduced?

6.1 Your Officers do not consider there to be any notable risks to BDC in relation to the recommendation in this Report.

7. Other options considered

7.1 The other option is to not agree to this Council signing the proposed NWLDC Statement of Common Ground proposed at Appendix A. However, there is considered to be no reason for this course of action, and it would be at odds with the positive way in which this Council works with its neighbouring authorities across Leicester and Leicestershire. It would also raise concerns regarding the Duty to Co-operate with neighbouring authorities set out in legislation.

8. Other significant issues

8.1 In preparing this report, the author has considered issues related to Human Rights, Human Resources, Equalities, Public Health Inequalities, and Climate Local and there are no areas of concern.

8.2 Significant issues relating to legal matters have been addressed at paragraph 4.4.

9. Appendix

9.1 Appendix A – North West Leicestershire Local Plan Partial Review – Statement of Common Ground

10. Background paper(s)

10.1 None applicable

11. Report author’s contact details Lucy O’Doherty Development Strategy Manager Lucy.o’[email protected] 0116 272 7775