Getting Your Plan in Place Workshop: Key Principles and Steps for Robust Local Plan

1. Getting your Plan in Place www.pas.gov.uk

2. Workshop Structure • Introductions & objectives • Session 1: The importance of good plan-making • Discussion: Role of Elected Members • Session 2: Developing a sound plan • Exercise / Discussion: Identifying the key challenges to adopting a sound Local Plan • Lunch

3. Workshop Structure • Session 3: The Duty to Cooperate • Exercise / Discussion: Complying with the Duty to Cooperate • Session 4: The role of viability in plan-making • Session 5: Programme management & what your plan should look like • Session 6: Examination process • Questions and discussion

4. Objective To equip you with a thorough understanding of key plan-making principles and the steps that need to be taken in order that you can help your planning authority get a robust plan in place as soon as possible

5. Context “Local Plans are the key to delivering sustainable development that reflects the vision and aspirations of local communities. Planning decisions must be taken in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise” National Planning Policy Framework

6. What’s the problem? • Recent figures indicate 52% of Local Authorities do not have a local plan in place Source: Campaign to Protect Rural England, March 2013

7. However… • Recent data from PINS indicates less than 7% of Local Authorities have plans in place that are judged to fully comply with the NPPF Source: Planning Resource, March 2013

8. “…due weight should be given to relevant policies in existing plans according to their degree of consistency with this framework” NPPF Situation

9. Potential implications? vs “End of NPPF transition period is no cause for alarm” Nick Boles Source: Planning Resource, March 2013

10. “Savills, an unbiased observer, thinks that because of incomplete, inadequate or out of date local plans, a wave of unplanned new housing decisions could be imposed on local communities by planning inspectors. This could allow speculative development proposals to arise on many sites. As we predicted in 2011, this is likely to mean a rerun of the 1980s ‘Planning by Appeal’ system…” Policy Exchange Potential implications?

11. Session 1: The importance of good plan-making

12. Having a robust Local Plan in place helps to: Move from plan-making to place-shaping; Provide certainty for communities and developers; Focus council on delivery; Access more funding and attract investment; Manage conflict! Why good plan-making matters

13. Planning reform • National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) • Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies  local authorities responsible for determining housing numbers • Localism Act including the Duty to Cooperate • Neighbourhood planning

14. NPPF and planning • The NPPF explicitly states planning’s principal role as being to help achieve sustainable development • “At the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework is a presumption in favour of sustainable development, which should be seen as a golden thread running through both plan making and decision taking”

15. Key principles of the NPPF • Emphasises that sustainable development should be about positive growth – making economic, environmental and social progress for this and future generations • Emphasises central role of Local Plans in planning system

16. Key principles of the NPPF • Local plans should: “meet objectively assessed needs, with sufficient flexibility to adapt to rapid change” NPPF

17. Unless…. • “…any adverse impacts of allowing development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole” NPPF Remember – still a presumption in favour of the plan

18. Implications / risks of not having an up-to-date Local Plan in place • Difficult to defend inappropriate development • Priority in favour of ‘sustainable development’ • Increased ‘planning by appeal’ likely

19. Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) • Localism Act has removed the regional planning framework meaning no further RSSs can be created • “It remains necessary for Local Plans including Core Strategies to be in general conformity with the RS. This was made clear in the Court of Appeal case: Cala Home (South) Ltd v SoS for CLG & ANR (May 2011)” Rushcliffe Core Strategy, Inspector’s Note (November 2012)

20. Duty to Cooperate Introduced by Localism Act New tool for delivering strategic planning at local level Requires councils and public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis in relation to planning for strategic issues

21. Neighbourhood planning Localism Act introduced new right for communities to draw up neighbourhood plans “Neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the Local Plan. To facilitate this, local planning authorities should set out clearly their strategic policies for the area and ensure that an up-to-date Local Plan is in place as quickly as possible” NPPF

22. The role of Elected Members

23. The role of Members • You have a vital leadership role to play to produce a robust Local Plan for your area that has buy in from all parties • Key challenge is to listen to the views and aspirations of your constituents and balance this with the professional advice of your planning staff in order to plan for, and meet, the development needs of your area

24. The role of Members • Leadership • Understanding your issues • Setting the vision & objectives • Setting priorities • Making decisions & understanding implications • Agreeing programmes & resources • Engagement / community accountability • Working with other authorities and agencies • Scrutiny and monitoring

25. Key relationships • Key relationships: • Leader and Portfolio Holder • Cabinet Members and other Members • Steering Group Members and officers

26. Discussion: Role of Elected Members

27. Session 2: Developing a sound plan

28. Developing a sound plan Address the key priorities for the area Plan positively Develop a robust and credible evidence base Co-operate with neighbouring areas Focus on reasonable alternatives Undertake comprehensive Sustainability Appraisal Stakeholder engagement Viable and deliverable in practice

29. Local Plans should “reflect a collective vision and a set of agreed priorities for the sustainable development of the area” “Local Plans should be aspirational but realistic” NPPF Address the key priorities for the area Source: www.landscapeinstitute.org

30. Useful policies • “Local Plans should set out the opportunities for development and clear policies on what will or will not be permitted and where. Only policies that provide a clear indication of how a decision maker should react to a development proposal should be included in the plan” NPPF

31. Policies should cover… • “the homes and jobs needed in the area” • “the provision of retail, leisure and other commercial development” • “the provision of infrastructure” • “the provision of health, security, community and cultural infrastructure and other local facilities” • “climate change mitigation and adaptation, conservation and enhancement of the natural and historic environment, including landscape” NPPF

32. Plan philosophy • Local Plans should “plan positively for the development and infrastructure required in the area” NPPF Source: www.nottingham.ac.uk/transportissues/

33. Robust and credible evidence base • “Each local planning authority should ensure that the Local Plan is based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence about the economic, social and environmental characteristics and prospects of the area” NPPF

34. Evidence base (examples) • Strategic Housing Needs Assessment (SHMA) • Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) • Authority Monitoring Report • Five Year Land Supply Assessment • Affordable Housing Economic Viability Assessment • Employment land review • Transport Assessments • Retail assessment • Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Study • Strategic Flood Risk Assessment • Landscape and Settlement Character Assessment • Green Belt Review

35. Prioritising evidence gathering • “Wherever possible the local planning authority should consider how the preparation of any assessment will contribute to the plan’s evidence base” NPPF

36. “To boost significantly the supply of housing” NPPF Housing Source: www.guardian.co.uk

37. Housing evidence – two key components • Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) - identifies the scale and mix of housing and the range of tenures that the local population is likely to need over the plan period • Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment(SHLAA) – establishes realistic assumptions about the availability, suitability and the likely economic viability of land to meet the identified need for housing over the plan period

38. The importance of the SHMA • “The absence of an up to date SHMA is a serious failing and makes a full assessment of need difficult” East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s report (November 2012)

39. New toolkit available: www.howmanyhomes.org Understanding need

40. Meeting housing need • “LPAs should use their evidence base to ensure that their Local Plan meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market area” NPPF Source: www.guardian.co.uk

41. Important to analyse higher growth options • “The Authority’s assertion that environmental constraints prevent them from meeting the objectively assessed need is not supported by any analysis of the impact of higher levels of growth” East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s report (November 2012)

42. Important to analyse options for housing growth • “I am surprised that the option for growth to the west of the town does not appear to have been considered by the council. I recommend that the council should withdraw its Core Strategy, consider a revised one and examine alternatives for housing growth in both the south and the west of Melton” Reported closing statement by Inspector at final Melton Borough Council Hearing session Source: Planning Resource

43. Dealing with unmet housing need The Council should “Consider making provision for an increased number of dwellings and/or set out results of discussions with neighbouring authorities in relation to meeting any unmet need in the District” East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s report (November 2012)

44. Future delivery more important than past build rates • “Past problems over delivery should not be used to set targets for the future which are significantly below the required level for new housing” Rushcliffe Core Strategy inspector’s note (November 2012)

45. Addressing the housing shortfall Local planning authorities should “identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5%” “Where there has been a record of persistent under delivery of housing, local planning authorities should increase the buffer to 20%” NPPF

46. Housing need - experience post NPPF “…far from Councils having successfully reduced their housing targets as a result of Localism, the first 12 months of the NPPF show the vast majority of ‘sound’ Local Plans with housing targets at least at the level proposed by the RS.” NLP (March 2013)

47. SHLAA The SHLAA should be the key document to demonstrate the deliverability of the housing strategy in the plan, it should: Identify the availability of sites with potential for housing Assess their suitability for housing Assess likely economic viability of land to meet identified housing need

48. Green belt reviews “Local planning authorities with Green Belts in their area should establish Green Belt boundaries in their Local Plans which set the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy. Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, through the preparation or review of the Local Plan. At that time, authorities should consider the Green Belt boundaries having regard to their intended permanence in the long term, so that they should be capable of enduring beyond the plan period.” NPPF Local Authorities in the south of England who are contemplating green belt review Source: Savills

49. Reasonable alternatives “Where an environmental assessment is required… an environmental report shall be prepared in which the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing the plan or programme, and reasonable alternatives taking into account the objectives and the geographical scope of the plan or programme, are identified, described and evaluated…” SEA Directive, Article 5(1)

50. Reasonable alternatives