Agenda item

The Local Plan: Development Management Policies was the second part of Guildford’s Local Plan. Together with the adopted Local Plan: Strategy and Sites document (LPSS), it would fully supersede the existing Local Plan 2003 and become part of the Council’s Development Plan. The Submission Local Plan (SLP) enabled more detailed policies to be used by Development Management in the determination of planning applications, to test those applications and to ensure good development in the borough was sustainable and attractive.

The Chairman introduced a report that sought Executive approval to submit the SLP to Full Council and then subsequently to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector.

The report had been considered by the Joint Executive Advisory Board on 10 May 2022 and the comments arising from that meeting were set out in the supplementary agenda.

A ‘Regulation 19 ‘proposed submission’ consultation had been undertaken in January/February 2022, all of the comments and responses had been analysed and some ‘minor modifications’ had been made. No ‘main modifications’ were considered necessary. Of those responses it was noted that generally a two-way split could be observed of respondents who considered the proposals were too exacting and those who felt that the proposals did not go far enough. It was hoped that a balance had been presented and the Council’s own viability study showed the plan to be sound. Density levels had been a topic of many respondents and had been a feature of in-house discussions between councillors; however it had been agreed at Full Council prior to the ‘Regulation 19’ consultation that policies should not become so prescriptive as to encumber fair evaluations of individual applications.

It was explained that Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) were usually adopted by the Council itself. The Parking SPD was unusual case as it might be argued that parking standards was actually policy. The council had taken legal advice and considered that the Parking SPD should be submitted to the Inspector along with the SLP for a final decision. If the Inspector agreed that the parking standard was policy then it would be possible to turn the Parking SPD into an appendix of the SLP. If the Inspector did not agree and considered it should remain an SPD this would be preferable and be more flexible for the council in future.

The Planning Inspector would only review those comments and responses received during the ‘Regulation 19’ consultation and predominantly those responses about matters that were repeated many times and identified by the council as common concerns. The Inspector would consider if the council had fully addressed those matters or if there should be further study to reach a conclusion. If any matter had not been raised during the ‘Regulation 19’ consultation it would not be possible for the council to raise it with the Inspector following submission.

If the recommendation was approved by the Executive to submit to Full Council, it was proposed to submit the plan to the Secretary of State within two weeks of the Full Council decision. Once submitted the full examination in public would be undertaken by the inspector later in the year.

Officers were commended for the report and councillors praised for the rigour of the review process to which the SLP had been subjected.  The Executive

RESOLVED:

That full Council (at its extraordinary meeting on 9 June 2022), be requested to agree the following:

(1)    That the Submission Local Plan: Development Management Policies (Appendix 1), together with all relevant associated documentation referred to in Appendix 2 to the report, be approved for submission to the Secretary of State for the purpose of proceeding to and through the Examination in Public process.

(2)    That the Lead Councillor with portfolio responsibility for Strategic Planning be authorised, in consultation with the Strategic Services Director, to make such minor alterations to improve the clarity of the submission documents as they may deem necessary.

Reason(s):

1.    To enable the Submission Local Plan: Development Management Policies document to be submitted for Examination in Public in line with the adopted Local Development Scheme.

2.     To enable an Inspector to test the plan in terms of its legal compliance and ‘soundness’ which will allow the Council to move a step closer to adopting an up-to-date second part of its Local Plan.