Agenda item

Planning and Economic Development Portfolio

To consider report PES/427 of the Head of Economy and Planning, which was referred to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 30 January 2023.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet:

a)         delegates the following authority to the Head of Economy and Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development (Generic Delegation 5 will be used to enact these recommendations):

          i.             factual amendments and minor modifications to the Local Plan necessary in accordance with national policy and updated evidence for the purposes of clarity and accuracy.

         ii.             To approval of updates or additions to the supporting documents for the Local Plan and technical evidence base documents to support the Local Plan through Examination.

b)         requests that the Full Council to approve:

          i.             the submission draft Local Plan for Publication consultation (a statutory six-week period of public consultation), commencing 9 May 2023.

         ii.             the submission draft Local Plan for Submission to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector, subject to minor amendments deemed necessary following the above consultation for the purposes of clarity and accuracy.

        iii.             publication and submission of the supporting documents for the Local Plan: the Local Plan Map; the Sustainability Appraisal; the Habitats Regulations Assessment; the Consultation Statement; and the detailed technical evidence base documents necessary for supporting the Local Plan through Examination.

Reasons for the Recommendations

National Government guidance expects local planning authorities to produce up-to-date Local Plans for their areas, setting out the strategic priorities for the area over a 15-year timescale and showing how development needs will be met. The Crawley Borough Local Plan was adopted by Full Council on 16 December 2015. It covers the period 2015 – 2030 and provides the borough’s full planning policies for the purposes of development management decisions.

A full Local Plan Review is being undertaken to ensure the borough maintains up to date planning policies. A draft Local Plan has been considered and approved by the Council previously at the meetings of the Full Council held on 16 December 2019 and 16 December 2020. It had to be considered a second time in December 2020 due to advice relating to the government’s aviation policy, which required us to reinstate most of the land safeguarded for an additional runway to the south of Gatwick Airport.

Unexpected critical legal matters relating to water supply and its potential impacts on internationally protected habitat sites have caused additional work and substantial delays to the progression of the Local Plan whilst being resolved. However, there is now sufficient information available to address these concerns through the Local Plan Review. As a consequence, Cabinet approval is being sought to refer the revised Local Plan and supporting documentation to Full Council, seeking approval to undertake a further period of Regulation 19 consultation prior to submission of the final draft Plan to an Inspector for examination in public.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development presented report PES/427 of the Head of Economy and Planning. The new Crawley Local Plan had been prepared based on the outcomes of monitoring the implementation of the 2015 adopted Local Plan, feedback from previous stages of formal public consultations and updated from the supporting technical evidence base. Following Full Council held on 16 December 2020 which approved the Draft Local Plan for Publication and Submission, formal public consultation took place from early January until the end of June 2021.

Progression of the Local Plan to Submission was subsequently delayed due to the work required in order to meet the Habitats Regulations specifically in relation to water supply constraints. Due to this, a number of key changes, which account for the impact of “water neutrality” and associated time delay, had been made to the draft Local Plan. On this basis, the amended draft Plan will be considered again at Full Council.

Following this, a further stage of Regulation 19 Publication Consultation will take place. It is supported by a number of statutory supporting documents (a Local Plan Map, a Sustainability Appraisal, a Habitats Regulations Assessment and a Consultation Statement).

The report requested Cabinet to recommend to Full Council approval of the submission draft Local Plan for public consultation (a statutory six-week period of), commencing 9 May 2023. In addition, was the recommendation to Full Council to approve the submission draft Local Plan for Submission to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector, subject to minor amendments deemed necessary following consultation for the purposes of clarity, together with the recommendation to Full Council for approval of the publication and submission of the supporting documents for the Local Plan.  These included the Local Plan Map; the Sustainability Appraisal; the Habitats Regulations Assessment; the Consultation Statement; and the detailed technical evidence base documents necessary for supporting the Local Plan through Examination.

Councillor T Belben presented the Overview and Scrutiny Commission’s comments on the report OSC/308 to the Cabinet following consideration of the matter at its meeting on 30 January 2023.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet:

a)         delegates the following authority to the Head of Economy and Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development

(Generic Delegation 5 will be used to enact these recommendations):

i         factual amendments and minor modifications to the Local Plan necessary in accordance with national policy and updated evidence for the purposes of clarity and accuracy.

ii        to approval of updates or additions to the supporting documents for the Local Plan and technical evidence base documents to support the Local Plan through Examination.

b)         requests that the Full Council to approve:

i         the submission draft Local Plan for Publication consultation (a statutory six-week period of public consultation), commencing 9 May 2023.

ii        the submission draft Local Plan for Submission to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector, subject to minor amendments deemed necessary following the above consultation for the purposes of clarity and accuracy.

iii       publication and submission of the supporting documents for the Local Plan: the Local Plan Map; the Sustainability Appraisal; the Habitats Regulations Assessment; the Consultation Statement; and the detailed technical evidence base documents necessary for supporting the Local Plan through Examination.

Reasons for the Recommendations

National Government guidance expects local planning authorities to produce up-to-date Local Plans for their areas, setting out the strategic priorities for the area over a 15-year timescale and showing how development needs will be met. The Crawley Borough Local Plan was adopted by Full Council on 16 December 2015. It covers the period 2015 – 2030 and provides the borough’s full planning policies for the purposes of development management decisions.

A full Local Plan Review is being undertaken to ensure the borough maintains up to date planning policies. A draft Local Plan has been considered and approved by the Council previously at the meetings of the Full Council held on 16 December 2019 and 16 December 2020. It had to be considered a second time in December 2020 due to advice relating to the government’s aviation policy, which required us to reinstate most of the land safeguarded for an additional runway to the south of Gatwick Airport.

Unexpected critical legal matters relating to water supply and its potential impacts on internationally protected habitat sites have caused additional work and substantial delays to the progression of the Local Plan whilst being resolved. However, there is now sufficient information available to address these concerns through the Local Plan Review. As a consequence, Cabinet approval is being sought to refer the revised Local Plan and supporting documentation to Full Council, seeking approval to undertake a further period of Regulation 19 consultation prior to submission of the final draft Plan to an Inspector for examination in public.