Agenda item

The Head of Planning will be in attendance to provide an update on the Local Plan

Recommendation: Panel to determine whether further information is required

The Head of Planning was in attendance and provided an update on Middlesbrough Council’s Local Plan. The Housing Local Plan was adopted in November 2014. There was a requirement to review the Local Plan every five years, however the Council decided to review that Plan in 2016 since certain parts of the Development Plan at that time still dated back to 1999.

In October 2018 the reviewed Local Plan reached publication stage. The Council approved the Plan and it went out to consultation in December 2018. A significant number of objections were raised, particularly from members of the public, and also from several statutory bodies including Historic England, Sport England and the Environment Agency. The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) were also consulted to look at the Plan to see whether there were any gaps in it prior to submission to the Secretary of State for approval. The Local Plan was due to be submitted in June 2019, following the Local Elections.

The PAS review also took into account the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which were introduced in May 2019 and post-dated the publication of the draft Plan. The PAS reviewed noted that there were gaps in the evidence base and additional work needed to be completed prior to submission. There were also some policy gaps in the Plan primarily due to the change in the NPPF in 2019, in relation to affordable housing, strategic policy, effective use of land and the Plan period. The NPPF changes also included that the Local Plan had to cover 15 years beyond the adoption date. The Council had two options- to either continue with the submission or put it on hold.

Following the Local Elections in May 2019, and the subsequent changes in administration, the Publication Draft of the Local Plan was formally withdrawn in July 2019. The impact of withdrawing the Local Plan was not that significant since, as identified by PAS, there was additional work to be undertaken. One of the key concerns was the impact on the Council’s ability to stop Developers dictating where house building would take place. The key test was whether Middlesbrough had a five year supply of land for house building and delivery. Middlesbrough still had around a seven year supply of housing land and the delivery test was also met. The Council did still need to have a new Local Plan in place to enable it to tackle its priorities.

The Council then had to the review the evidence base on which the Local Plan was based and had therefore reviewed the following elements:

·         Retail/Town centre.

·         Housing Needs Study.

·         Gypsies/Travelling show people assessment.

·         Employment Land Review.

·         Green Blue Infrastructure Strategy.

·         Transport Study.

·         Playing Pitch Strategy.

The revised timetable for adoption of the revised Local Plan was set out in the presentation and had anticipated adoption in Spring 2021. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been a number of impacts on the timetable including engagement with communities, consultants and key stakeholders.

A key area of that was the Employment Land Review as it was not possible to predict the employment sector going forward, what the priorities would be, or whether more people would be working at home. Similarly the retail study was produced prior to the impact of Covid-19, which had undoubtedly had a huge impact and created much uncertainty.

There had also been a number of national policy changes and the uncertainty around planning reforms had an impact on how the Local Plan was taken forward. In addition, as part of the NPPF there had been changes to how housing numbers were calculated in terms of the Local Plan.

The Council was currently revising the timetable for the Local Plan and re-engaging with the Member Working Group between now and Christmas. Consultation on the preferred options document was scheduled for January or February 2021 and this would lead to adoption of the Local Plan by March 2022.  In essence the Local Plan had been delayed by approximately 12 months.

A concern was raised that not having a current Local Plan could inhibit the Council’s control of house building. The Head of Planning confirmed that the Council was currently in a strong position as there was approximately seven years’ supply of land available. 

It was highlighted that the emerging Local Plan had intended to impose restrictions on hot food takeaways and large house conversions into flats. A recent planning application for a hot food takeaway that had been rejected by the Council’s Planning Committee had been overturned on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate. A comment in the decision notice was that only limited weight was afforded to the Local Plan as it was only interim. The Head of Planning confirmed that the Planning Inspectorate could not give full weight to a Local Plan until it was formally adopted. One of the issues with the hot food takeaways policy was that the Council wanted to refine it further. It was also confirmed that both policies would be recommended for inclusion in the Plan.

Responding to a question on progress with the Plan, the Head of Planning confirmed that the current areas had been considered to date: Statement of Community Involvement, the Historic Environment, and the structure of Plan and how it aligned to the Council’s Strategic Plan. The next area for review would be housing allocation. 

AGREED that the information provided was received and noted.