Borough Local Plan 1997
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CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1.1 PURPOSE AND STATUS OF THE PLAN 1.1.1 This is the Adopted version of the Thurrock Borough Local Plan, the first such plan to be prepared by Thurrock Council covering the whole of the Borough. Its main purposes are: i. To show how the Council thinks the Borough ought to develop over the period up to 2001 and how, at the same time, its environment should be protected and enhanced; and ii. To set out the Council’s policies for achieving those goals which will be taken into account in determining applications for planning permission. The Plan thus sets down a framework to guide and encourage development which will be beneficial to Thurrock and will ensure that the best public interest is served overall. 1.1.2 This Borough-wide Local Plan supersedes all previous Local Plans prepared by the Council. It replaces the East Thurrock Local Plan as the plan in force for the area around Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham and the oil refineries and the Havering Unitary Development Plan Part II in respect of those areas transferred from the London Borough of Havering to Thurrock on 1st April 1994. It replaces the 1976 Approved Review Essex Development Plan in respect of the rest of the Borough. 1.2 PREPARATION OF THE PLAN AND NEXT STEPS 1.2.1 The Plan has been prepared under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 and in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Development Plan) Regulations 1991 and advice issued by the Department of the Environment regarding form, content and procedure. 1.2.2 The preparation of the Thurrock Borough Local Plan was, however, commenced under the Town and Country Planning (Structure and Local Plans) Regulations 1982, and the advice contained in Circular 22/84. The Consultation Draft Stage 1.2.3 The Consultation Draft Thurrock Borough Local Plan was published in June 1991, and was the subject of a publicity and public consultation exercise which invited public comment on the Plan. 1.2.4 The consultation exercise was the biggest the Council has run on Planning issues and contained a number of elements. The Council magazine Thurrock Talk gave an overview of the Plan to all households and included a returnable questionnaire, while thirteen exhibitions and five Saturday road shows in shopping centres gave people the opportunity to view the proposals in more detail. Statutory public notices, press releases and a press conference also brought the attention of the general public to the consultation exercise. 1.2.5 Nearly 700 questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 1.5%. In addition over 100 detailed replies were received, which included a total of 700 individual comments from local residents, a variety of Government bodies, landowners and interest groups. The comments received were considered by the Town Planning Committee on 23rd April 1992. Further consideration by a Local Plan Member Panel followed, and the final text for the Deposit Plan was agreed on 6th January 1994. 1.2.6 Prior to the Plan being placed on deposit, a statement of conformity was obtained from the County Council stating that the Plan is in general conformity with the Approved Essex Structure Plan First Alteration, and the proposed Second Alteration. Page 1 Thurrock Borough Local Plan Adopted September 1997 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION The Deposit Stage 1.2.7 The Plan was placed on deposit at the Council Offices and various other public locations in May 1994 and a period of 6 weeks allowed for the public to make objections to and representations in support of the Plan. 1,437 representations were received from over 600 respondents. 1,291 of these were objections seeking changes to the Plan. 1.2.8 The Council produced two separate schedules of suggested changes to the Plan to meet some of the objections which were made. These were placed on deposit between December 1994 and February 1995 and resulted in the withdrawal of 57 objections. However, there were a further 45 objections to these schedules. The Local Inquiry 1.2.9 The Public Local Inquiry into the objections to the Plan opened on 7th March 1995 and closed on 14th September 1995. The Inspector, Mr. E. B. Williams, considered a total of 1,279 objections affecting 9 of the Plan’s objectives, 169 policies and/or their reasoned justification, the Introduction and the Annexe. Of these objections, 165 were conditionally withdrawn as a result of changes proposed by the Council before and during the Inquiry. The “Inspector’s Report of the Inquiry into Objections to the Thurrock Borough Local Plan” was received by the Council at the end of May 1996 and published in January 1997. The Modifications Stage 1.2.10 The “Council’s Response to the Inspector’s Report”, and the accompanying “Proposed Modifications to the Thurrock Borough Local Plan Deposit”, were prepared in response to the Inspector’s recommendations. Following the endorsement of the Town Planning Committee on 9th January 1997, both documents were published in February 1997. A period of six weeks, ending on 11th April 1997, was allowed for the public to make representations regarding the Proposed Modifications. A total of 69 representations were received from 22 respondents. Of these representations, 50 were objections made by 15 respondents. 1.2.11 The objections were considered by the Council’s Policy & Resources Committee on 22nd July 1997, which resolved to adopt the Plan without any further modification to the Plan proposals. This resolution was ratified by Full Council on 30th July 1997. The Committees also approved the publication of the “Council’s Statement of Decisions and Reasons in Respect of the Objections to the Proposed Modifications” in August 1997. 1.2.12 Following notice being given of the Council’s intention to adopt the Plan without any further modification, the Plan was adopted on 1st September 1997. Thurrock Borough Local Plan Page 2 Adopted September 1997 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1.3 FORM AND CONTENT OF THE PLAN 1.3.1 The basic format of local plans is specified in the appropriate Regulations while further guidance as to the form and content is set out in Department of the Environment planning policy guidance note PPG12 : Development Plans and Regional Planning Guidance. 1.3.2. The Thurrock Borough Local Plan consists of the following: Part One: The Written Statement This contains fourteen chapters, setting out the Council’s planning strategy for Thurrock, the objectives it wishes to achieve in pursuit of that strategy and the policies, under various topic headings, through which it is intended to achieve them. The topic chapters include sections outlining the background and identifying the issues, placing them in the context of existing planning policy and setting out the Council’s approach to dealing with them. The Council’s Strategic Objectives are set out, in bold type in Chapter Two. In Chapters Three to Fourteen, the policies that will be operated by the Council, including any specific proposals for the development or use of land are set out, again in bold type followed by the justification for each policy. Supporting information, including survey data as at the Plan’s base date of 1993, and a glossary of technical terms, is placed in Appendices at the back of this document. Part Two: Annexe to the Written Statement This consists of a Compendium of Development Control Policies, Criteria and Planning Standards, many of which have been operated and applied by the Council for several years, others having been generated specifically in relation to new policies contained in the Plan. The opportunity has been taken to update some of the older policies and standards. These are technically a part of the Written Statement for statutory purposes (as opposed to being supplementary planning guidance). These matters were placed in a separate document in the Deposit version of the Plan but, in this Adopted version, are incorporated into this single document. Part Three: The Proposals Map This denotes sites where specific developments are planned and indicates the areas to which particular policies, set out in the Written Statement, will be applied, the policy reference numbers being shown on the Map. The Proposal Map consists of two sheets on an Ordnance Survey base at 1:12,500 scale, covering the whole of the Borough, except for the designated Town Centre area of Grays. This is covered by a Grays Town Centre Inset Map at 1:2,500 scale. Thurrock Borough Local Plan Page 3 Adopted September 1997 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1.4 THE PLANNING CONTEXT 1.4.1 This Adopted Plan has been prepared having regard to existing plans and planning policies which may impinge upon it at all levels, including national and regional planning policy, the Essex Structure Plan and Development Plans prepared by neighbouring planning authorities. National and Regional Planning Policy 1.4.2 There is, in this country, no national land-use plan as such, nor, in 1997, had there been any regional plans or statutory planning bodies for more than twenty years. Government planning policy is advised to local planning authorities in the form of circulars issued by the Department of the Environment and summarised in Planning Policy Guidance Notes. Particular Circulars and Guidance Notes have been referred to, where appropriate, in this Plan. In some cases, the government policy referred to has been superseded. This is owing to the fact that the policy proposals of the Plan have been agreed and ratified at different times during the process leading to adoption and that the government policy relevant to the proposal at the time that it was ratified is referred to in the text.