Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive regarding the content of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s Pre-submission Regulation 19 Local Plan and the comments to be submitted to the Borough Council as the views of the County Council. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda item 14’, is filed with these minutes.

Mr Bedford CC said that it was crucial a comprehensive Local Plan was in place and there continued to be concerns within the Borough’s villages that without such a Plan housing developments would continue to be built without the necessary infrastructure. He added that whilst he recognised the development of a local plan was a significant undertaking, there were concerns with regard to the quality of the planning documents being produced by the Borough Council which were not consistent with national policy. The Borough’s insistence to submit its Regulatory 19 Plan to the Planning Inspectorate without an up to date sustainability appraisal and proper consideration of the transport implications was of real concern and he fully understood why the County Council would object at the Local Plan’s examination unless the issues were resolved.

Mr O’Shea CC said that the lack of a viable Local Plan for the Borough had already resulted in housing developments being built without the required infrastructure and more would follow unless a sustainable Plan was developed and approved.

Mrs Taylor said there was concern that the lack of planning for new school places in the Borough would result in children having to travel significant distances across the County to attend school. 

RESOLVED:

a)    That the County Council’s response to the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (H&BBC) Pre-submission Regulation 19 Local Plan consultation, set out in paragraphs 36 to 67 inclusive and the Appendix to the report be noted;

b)    That the County Council at this stage considers insufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate that the Local Plan meets the tests of soundness as set out in paragraph 35 of the National Planning Policy Framework and strongly discourages H&BBC from submitting its Local Plan while relevant significant issues are still to be resolved;

c)     That it be noted that should H&BBC proceed with the submission of its Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate at this stage without addressing the concerns raised by the County Council, the County Council will object at H&BBC’s Local Plan Examination;

d)    That it be noted that the County Council will continue to work with H&BBC to try to resolve issues to help develop a Local Plan that is sound (in planning terms) and deliverable.

REASON FOR DECISION:

H&BBC’s Regulation 19 consultation took place from 9 February to 23 March 2022. The Chief Executive was authorised by the Cabinet at its meeting on 11 February 2022 to submit comments on behalf of the County Council to enable a response to be submitted within the statutory timeframe. HBBC’s new Local Plan will set out the Borough Council’s development strategy to 2039. Given its location close to Leicester and close functional connectivity to communities living and working in Blaby, Charnwood, and North West Leicestershire, the content of the emerging Local Plan is particularly important to this area and the wider Leicester and Leicestershire Housing Market Area.

The planning system requires that a local planning authority may only submit its Local Plan for examination if it is confident it will meet the tests of soundness. H&BBC has indicated that the Local Plan will be submitted without an accompanying up-to-date Sustainability Appraisal on the Pre-Submission Regulation 19 Local Plan, without proper consideration of the transport impacts of the intended growth strategy and without setting out how the impacts of the strategy will be mitigated. The County Council has raised concerns at both Regulation 18 and 19 stage about how the growth strategy impacts upon school places and how new and extended schools will be delivered (and any associated transport impacts). There are also concerns about the lack of information about the viability of the Local Plan.

The County Council is therefore concerned that submission of the Local Plan for examination by H&BBC at this stage conflicts with the requirement to only submit a plan that the council believes is sound. This places significant burden on the County Council to try to resolve these issues in an unreasonable timescale before the matter is considered at Local Plan Examination. The approach being taken means that the County Council reluctantly has to advise the Inspector that it believes that the Local Plan is not sound.

For the County Council in its role as a key infrastructure provider for transport and education the lack of evidence and certainty (in terms of understanding mitigation, viability and deliverability), presents significant risk to the County Council.  The focus needs to be on resolving these issues where possible and minimising this risk through closer partnership working to prepare a sound Local Plan for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough.