Democracy in Crawley

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Crawley Borough Local Plan Review - Publication and Submission

02/02/2023 - Crawley Borough Local Plan Review: Publication and Submission

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.