Report to Sefton Council by Martin Pike BA MA MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Date 14 March 2017 PLANNING AND COMPULSORY PURCHASE ACT 2004 (AS AMENDED) SECTION 20 REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION INTO SEFTON LOCAL PLAN Document submitted for examination on 31 July 2015 Examination hearings held between 17 November – 11 December 2015, 12–15 January 2016 and 1-2 November 2016 File Ref: M4320/429/1 Abbreviations Used in this Report AA Appropriate Assessment AQMA Air Quality Management Area BMV Best and Most Versatile (agricultural land quality) CA Conservation Area CCG Clinical Commissioning Group DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government dpa dwellings per annum EA Environment Agency ELPSU Employment Land and Premises Study Update EU European Union EVS Economic Viability Study FRA Flood Risk Assessment HMR Housing Market Renewal HRR Household Representative Rate IDP Infrastructure Delivery Plan LCR Liverpool City Region LDS Local Development Scheme LEP Local Enterprise Partnership LWS Local Wildlife Site MM Main Modification MoU Memorandum of Understanding MSA Mineral Safeguarding Area NLP Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners NPPF National Planning Policy Framework PHE Public Health England PHM Pre Hearing Meeting PPG Planning Practice Guidance PPS Playing Pitch Strategy PSA Primary Shopping Area OAN Objectively Assessed Need OBR Office of Budget Responsibility ONS Office for National Statistics RSNW Regional Strategy for the North West RSR Retail Strategy Review SA Sustainability Appraisal SCI Statement of Community Involvement SFRA Strategic Flood Risk Assessment SHELMA Strategic Housing and Employment Land Market Assessment SHLAA Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment SHMA Strategic Housing Market Assessment SLP Sefton Local Plan SNPP Sub-National Population Projections SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest SuDS Sustainable Drainage System TA Transport Assessment UDP Unitary Development Plan UPC Unattributable Population Change WLBC West Lancashire Borough Council WMS Written Ministerial Statement -2- Sefton Local Plan - Inspector’s Report, March 2017 Non-Technical Summary This report concludes that the Sefton Local Plan provides an appropriate basis for the planning of the Borough, provided that a number of Main Modifications (MMs) are made to it. Sefton Council has specifically requested me to recommend any MMs necessary to enable the Plan to be adopted. The MMs all concern matters that were discussed at the examination hearings. Following the hearings, the Council prepared schedules of the proposed modifications and carried out sustainability appraisal of them. The MMs were subject to public consultation during June-August 2016. In some cases I have amended their detailed wording and/or added consequential modifications where necessary. I have recommended their inclusion in the Plan after considering all the representations made in response to consultation on them. The Main Modifications can be summarised as follows: Slightly increasing the number of new homes required and slightly decreasing the amount of employment land required, both to reflect updated projections; Adding one new housing allocation at Formby and deleting one employment allocation at Formby; Clarifying the strategies for implementing key housing and employment allocations; Amending housing policies to increase provision for the elderly, to improve the adaptability of dwellings and to support custom or self-build homes; Adjusting the approach to town centres to better reflect national retail policy, including the enlargement of some town centres and designation of primary shopping areas; Clarifying the provision of open space alongside new homes, and ensuring that replacement facilities are provided when open spaces are developed; Enhancing measures for mitigating the flood risk associated with new development; Adjusting policies for protecting the natural and historic environment to better reflect national policy; and Strengthening the commitment to an immediate review of the Plan if the forthcoming sub-regional study identifies a need for more housing or employment land. - 3 - Sefton Local Plan - Inspector’s Report, March 2017 Introduction 1. This report contains my assessment of the Sefton Local Plan (SLP) in terms of Section 20(5) of the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended). It considers first whether the Plan’s preparation has complied with the duty to co-operate. It then considers whether the Plan is sound and whether it is compliant with the legal requirements. Paragraph 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that to be sound, a Local Plan should be positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. 2. The starting point for the examination is the assumption that the local authority has submitted what it considers to be a sound plan. The basis for my examination is ‘A Local Plan for Sefton, Submission July 2015’ which is the same as the document published for consultation in January 2015. 3. When the Plan was submitted for examination a significant number of studies which make up the evidence base were not available. In a few instances this was unavoidable, in that work was on-going in response to recent changes in circumstance which were outside Sefton Council’s control. In most cases, however, key parts of the evidence base were not complete upon submission. This inevitably caused some difficulty at examination and meant that the hearings took place over a longer period than usual to give representors additional time to respond to late studies. Modifications 4. In accordance with section 20(7C) of the 2004 Act, the Council requested that I should make any Main Modifications (MMs) necessary to rectify matters that make the Plan unsound or not legally compliant and thus incapable of being adopted. My report explains why the recommended MMs, all of which relate to matters that were discussed at the examination hearings, are necessary. The MMs are referenced in bold in the report in the form MM1, MM2, MM3 etc, and are set out in full in the Appendix. 5. Following the main examination hearings, the Council prepared a schedule of proposed MMs and carried out sustainability appraisal of them. The MM schedule was subject to public consultation for six weeks. I have taken account of the consultation responses and comments made at the November 2016 hearings in coming to my conclusions in this report. In this light I have made some amendments to the detailed wording of the main modifications and added consequential modifications where these are necessary for consistency or clarity. None of the amendments significantly alters the content of the modifications as published for consultation or undermines the participatory processes and sustainability appraisal that has been undertaken. Where necessary I have highlighted these amendments in the report. 6. Some of the Plan’s proposals are repeated in different parts of the document. In most cases I have treated MMs to repeat proposals as consequential and have not separately identified them as MMs in the Appendix. In addition, the Council has proposed a large number of additional modifications which do not materially affect the policies of the Plan. In this report and the Appendix I focus on what I regard as the MMs necessary to make the Plan sound. All other modifications which are not specifically mentioned in the report or - 4 - Sefton Local Plan - Inspector’s Report, March 2017 Appendix are either consequential MMs or additional modifications, and can be made by the Council on adoption of the Plan. Policies Map 7. The Council must maintain an adopted policies map which illustrates geographically the application of the policies in the adopted development plan. When submitting a local plan for examination, the Council is required to provide a submission policies map showing the changes to the adopted policies map that would result from the proposals in the submitted local plan. In this case, the submission policies map comprises the four plans identified as ‘Local Plan Policy Map’ for Bootle and Crosby, Formby, Sefton East Parishes and Southport as set out in document LP1. 8. The policies map is not defined in statute as a development plan document and so I do not have the power to recommend Main Modifications to it. However, a number of the published MMs to the Plan’s policies require further corresponding changes to be made to the policies map. In addition, there are some instances where the geographic illustration of policies on the submission policies map is not justified and changes to the policies map are needed to ensure that the relevant policies are effective. 9. These further changes to the policies map were published for consultation alongside the MMs in a ‘Schedule of Proposed Modifications to the Policies Map of the Sefton Local Plan’. When the Plan is adopted, in order to comply with the legislation and give effect to the Plan’s policies, the Council will need to update the adopted policies map to include all the changes proposed in the submission policies map and the further changes published alongside the MMs. Consultation 10. Many residents feel that the process of consultation and engagement with local communities has been flawed. I appreciate that many residents do not have access to the Council’s website, but the use of a wide range of other media, including an insert in the local newspaper delivered to all households, demonstrates that the Council was alive to this problem. I acknowledge that the representation forms are complex and technical, but the Council made clear that residents could respond in any format and most used email or written letter. As to the events at which the emerging Plan could be discussed, because large numbers of people turned up during the drop-in events used at Options stage, causing long delays, the Council’s decision to use a booking system at Preferred Options stage was a sensible response to the earlier problem. 11. Overall it appears that the consultation process was extensive, thorough and designed to reach all sections of the community.