Following an enquiry from North Dorset District Council on behalf of all Dorset local planning authorities, the Government Office for the South West (GOSW) has recently confirmed that the Settlement Policies of the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Structure Plan were mistakenly omitted from the saved policies direction. The GOSW explained that the SoS has no powers to amend the direction, the policies are not saved and therefore they no longer form part of the development plan. However, the situation will be resolved once the RSS for the South West is finalised which GOSW expect will be towards the end of 2008.

The annex 97kb to this note lists the Settlement Policies of the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Structure Plan.

Action

In the meantime, Inspectors dealing with appeals involving the Settlement Policies of the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Structure Plan should be guided by the advice in paragraph 9 of the Saved Policies - Advice for Inspectors about the weight that unsaved policies should be given.

Please contact Richard Holland, ext 0117 3726245, if you have any queries on this Note.

Leonora Rozee

Leonora Rozee Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy, Quality and Development Plans