Decision details

Horsham District Council and Crawley Borough Council Statement of Common Ground, June/July 2024

Decision Maker: Head of Economy and Planning

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: No

Purpose:

The decision to approve the Crawley Borough Council and Horsham District Council Statement of Common Ground (SoCG) was approved by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development on 19 July 2023, although there was no legal requirement for that decision to be taken by the Cabinet member because the Head of Service has authority to take such decisions under the Council’s delegation scheme. This SoCG was then updated on 25 July 2023 with some minor amendments with the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, taking the decision to approve the amended SoCG. The final 2023 version of the SoCG was published on the Crawley Borough Council webpage and submitted to the Planning Inspectorate alongside the Crawley Borough Local Plan to support its examination, and demonstrate that the councils have met the Duty to Cooperate.

Since the previous version of the SoCG was agreed, Horsham District Council has progressed with its Horsham District Local Plan. This has been published for Regulation 19 consultation and is currently being finalised for its own submission to the Secretary of State for independent examination.
On this basis, the SoCG has been revised to reflect factual changes and the progress made since July 2023. As it is an update on the 2023 SoCG to support the submission of the Horsham District Local Plan, it has been signed off by the Head of Service, in accordance with the delegation scheme.

The revised June/July 2024 SoCG is available on our
website.

Decision:

To approve the updated version of the Horsham District Council and Crawley Borough Council Statement of Common Ground.

Alternative options considered:

Option 1 - To not update the Statement of Common Ground (SoCG). However, an up-to-date SoCG signed by both parties is required for the legal compliance and soundness of both the Crawley Borough Local Plan and the Horsham District Local Plan.

Option 2 - To update the Statement of Common Ground and approve the updated version.

Publication date: 09/07/2024

Date of decision: 27/06/2024