Planning Inspectorate Newsletter - Issue 4
Local Development Frameworks: Early Experiences Examining Development Plan Documents
The Planning Inspectorate undertook to collate and publish points arising from its experience during examination of the first Development Plan Documents to be submitted. What follows are the most important issues to emerge during the first six months of examinations.
Pre-Submission preparation
- Authorities should be able to show at examination what option or options were consulted upon at preferred options stage and how they arrived at the submission document.
- Appropriate assessment under the Habitats Regulations should be done before the Council submit the Development Plan Document (DPD).
- Evidence must be complete on submission. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) should be clear that evidence should inform the Plan and not be put together after submission to justify what is already in the submitted document.
- LPAs should recognise that the submitted plan should be the last word of the authority (paragraph 4.15 of Planning Policy Statement 12). Post submission changes should be the exception (box under paragraph 4.18 PPS12).
- LPAs should consider the chain of conformity in preparing their documents. Lower level DPDs should be in conformity with the core strategy. If the core strategy is unsound those lower level DPDs are probably unsound. Alternative approaches may be appropriate where there is a sound and up-to-date strategic framework or where there are significant delivery issues that require early consideration of, for example, an Area Action Plan.
Post submission process
- LPAs should carry out a proper and objective self-assessment (the Planning Advisory Service provide a toolkit) and ensure that all procedures are properly followed.
- LPAs should not accept as duly made either aspects of representations or entire representations which do not relate to the content of the submitted DPD.
- The examination is not the time to be submitting new material. All relevant evidence/information should be put before and considered by the LPA during the preparation process.
The examination
- The examination process starts on submission and finishes on the issue of the draft report to the LPA for ‘fact check’.
- The Inspector may hold early exploratory meetings to clarify any significant issues relating to soundness. If necessary, the Inspector will raise any fundamental concerns about the soundness of the document under examination at the Pre Examination Meeting.
- The Inspector may hold procedural meetings or hold hearing sessions at various stages throughout the plan process (subject to meeting the requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004).
- Inspectors will apply tests of soundness rigorously. They will not turn a ‘blind eye’ to poor quality documents which will ultimately slow down delivery of priorities on the ground
The report
- The Inspector will not be able to recommend changes in a binding report unless he/she can be sure the plan as changed would not be vulnerable to challenge on the grounds that the proper procedures had not been followed [in particular in relation to the Sustainability Appraisal process and proper community involvement].
DPD content
- Core strategies are where tough decisions need to be made: strategic decisions cannot be left to subsequent DPDs. If strategic decisions are devolved to subsequent DPDs, Inspectors will find it difficult to test the relationships between the DPDs.
- DPDs should show how national policy and the Regional Spatial Strategy (in London, the Spatial Development Strategy) are developed to give local distinctiveness (otherwise the DPD adds little value to what is already available). Examples of adding value would be providing greater detail which elaborate higher policy (e.g. choosing a particular target within a prescribed range) or making an exception to higher policy provided that there is a justified reason to do so, based on relevant evidence of a local need.
- Inspectors need to establish whether the plan will achieve what is intended by being able to measure the policies/proposals. Derivation of targets should be properly explained. There should also be a clear evidence base for specific numbers and percentages.
- Building in flexibility: Inspectors need to be clear whether and how the LPA’s approach might accommodate a change resulting from the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy (in London, the Spatial Development Strategy).
Local Development Frameworks Team
