Agenda item

Decision:

The Executive recommended to Full Council, meeting on 21 February 2024:

1.     That the Guildford Local Plan: strategy and sites (2015-2034) be updated following the findings of the review undertaken in accordance with regulation 10A of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended); and

2.     Noted that a further report would be submitted to the Executive at a later date to clarify the appropriate timing for and budgetary requirements of the Local Plan update. This report should follow the national planning reform legislation and consider its implications for the update process.

Reason(s):

1.     There is a statutory requirement to review the LPSS within 5 years of its adoption. This is to assess whether it needs updating. The review findings set out in this report indicate that an update of the LPSS would be an appropriate course of action to ensure that the Council’s Local Plan remains effective into the future.

2.     There are a range of uncertainties which impact on the context for the preparation of a new / updated Local Plan, some of which relate to the lack of clarity regarding the detail of proposed Government reforms to the planning system which guide plan-making. It is necessary that these are fully considered in order to set out recommendations regarding the scope and timing of a new plan-making process.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

The Council was required to review the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites (LPSS) within five years of adoption to decide if an update to the Plan was required. Having considered changes in national planning policy, associated guidance and relevant legislation, as well as changes in circumstances affecting Guildford borough since the LPSS was adopted, it was officers’ view that the Local Plan should be updated.

The report was introduced by the Lead Councillor for Planning who explained that the Local Plan was not only concerned with housing need and housing numbers, but also addressed the business and employment needs of the borough as well. Workplace arrangements and shopping habits had changed greatly since the adoption of the Local Plan in April 2019, and it was anticipated the evidence base would now look quite different. There would also be a review of open spaces and recreational places. If approved, an update of the Local Plan would completely reappraise the evidence base in these key areas. The update would be a large piece of work for the Council to undertake and would take some time to complete. Should the Executive agree the recommendations in the report and forward to Full Council for approval, then a second report would be submitted to the Executive settings out in detail the timetable, process and financing for the update of the Local Plan.

It was noted that during the course of the update it was expected that the Government would announce some substantial changes to planning policy. In addition, a General Election would be held and it was anticipated that significant changes to national planning policy could be introduced by a new government. Officers would be closely monitoring the situation and the Council would need to be prepared to adapt as and when new policy was announced.

It was possible that some of the policies in the Local Plan could become outdated during the course of the update if legislation and/or the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) were to change. The adopted Local Plan would remain the primary consideration until such a time as a new plan was adopted by Full Council, but any such policy affected in this way would carry less weight.

It was explained that because the existing Local plan was adopted on 25 April 2019 and not prior to 01 April 2019, there could be an argument made at any appeal that the existing plan should remain in place with 2019 Land Availability Assessment (LAA) numbers for an additional year. However, it was to be expected that this argument might not be supported by the development industry. The matter was beyond the scope of the submitted report but would be kept under observation.

It was observed that slow progress nationally to update population statistics, NPPF and the Standard Method of the local housing need calculation meant it had not been possible to review the Local Plan at any earlier point in time. It was further suggested that the Council might need to apply the existing Standard Method to its new evidence base if national planning policy were not updated during the period of the review.

The borough presented substantial constraints as to where new building might be located due to flood risk and designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) alongside a challenging infrastructure picture.  It was emphasised that a revised plan would be built upon the evidence base alone and that the Council should endeavour to always be clear with local people in this regard.

There was currently no time limit by which any Council should adopt a new local plan. The existing Guildford Borough Local Plan took seven years to adoption in which time the Council undertook three rounds of public consultation, including a Regulation 19 consultation, and processed around 90,000 consultation replies. The Executive heard that the Government was indicating a 30-month period to adoption in future. It was unclear if, under such circumstances, there would be a requirement for less evidence and/or public consultation process and what, if any, penalty there might be for failing to adopt within a set period.

It was commented that although plan-making was challenging here was an opportunity to collaborate with local people to make improvements in a number of areas.

The Executive, in noting all comments and questions thanked the Planning Policy team for its report and,

RESOLVED:

To recommend to Full Council, meeting on 21 February 2024:

1.     That the Guildford Local Plan: strategy and sites (2015-2034) be updated following the findings of the review undertaken in accordance with Regulation 10A of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

2.     That a further report be submitted to the Executive at a later date to clarify the appropriate timing for and budgetary requirements of the Local Plan update, and that such report should follow the national planning reform legislation and consider its implications for the update process.

Reason(s):

1.     There is a statutory requirement to review the LPSS within 5 years of its adoption. This is to assess whether it needs updating. The review findings set out in this report indicate that an update of the LPSS would be an appropriate course of action to ensure that the Council’s Local Plan remains effective into the future.

2.     There are a range of uncertainties which impact on the context for the preparation of a new / updated Local Plan, some of which relate to the lack of clarity regarding the detail of proposed Government reforms to the planning system which guide plan-making. It is necessary that these are fully considered in order to set out recommendations regarding the scope and timing of a new plan-making process.