Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 All Local Authorities are required under the Planning & Compensation Act 2004 to have in place a Local Development Scheme (LDS). The LDS is the Council's formal work programme for the preparation of planning policy documents to guide development in the District and deliver the spatial aspects of the Council Vision. These policy documents form the Bath & North East Somerset Local Development Framework. Adoption of the LDS and keeping to the programme set out in the LDS will influence the award of government grant to the District. When agreed, the LDS must be submitted to the Government Office for approval.

2 RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet agrees that :

(i) the revised Local Development Scheme is agreed, subject to necessary budgetary provision being made by council in February 2009, for submission to the Government Office for the South West;

(ii) authority is delegated to the Divisional Director for Planning & Transport Development, in conjunction with the Council Cabinet Member for Customer Services, to make minor consequential and editorial amendments to the Local Development Scheme and to agree the date for which the LDS comes into effect; and

(iii) a Member Local Development Framework Steering Board be established.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Provision has been made for the budgetary requirements for the progression of the LDF as set out in this report in the Planning & Transport Medium Term Resource and Service Plan. This is subject to necessary budgetary provision being made by council in February 2009. The Planning Service and Development and Major Projects and other services areas are continuing to work closely to coordinate staff and financial resources for the most efficient outcomes.

3.2 The LDS is a 3 year work programme and once agreed, must be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval. She will only endorse a LDS which sets out a realistic and deliverable programme and is adequately resourced. Preparation of the LDS has entailed informal discussions with the GOSW but the Secretary of State has the power to direct a Local Planning Authority to amend its LDS if she considers this is necessary.

3.3 Progress on the implementation of the LDS affects the level of Government financial grant to the Council.

4 CORPORATE PRIORITIES

4.1 The LDF, and particularly the Core Strategy, is a key corporate strategy and will address the spatial requirements of the Sustainable Community Strategy as well as the Council Vision. It will contribute to all 8 of the corporate priorities but particularly those set out below.

5 THE REPORT

5.1 A review of the current LDS is necessary to ensure the Council has an up-to-date planning framework to guide development and take account of climate change. The revised LDS will roll forward the three year work programme to take account of changes arising from the Planning White Paper published in late 2007.

5.2 National Guidance on Local Development Schemes states that:

"It is critical that core strategies are produced in a timely and efficient manner. This is essential for the supply of housing and other development to meet need. The Local Development Scheme sets out the development plan documents which will be produced and when they are going to be produced. It is vital that local authorities do their utmost to adhere to this timetable. If they do not:

· development which is needed for the benefit of current and future residents of the area may be delayed or even shelved;

· the coordination of the allocation of land for housing and the necessary supporting infrastructure will be difficult to achieve; and

· the public and other stakeholders will lose confidence in the plan making process."

5.3 The key changes to the LDS are outlined below and particular issues related to the Development Plan Documents (DPDs) are then described in more detail in the text following the table.

Summary of key changes to the Local Development Scheme

Core Strategy

5.4 The LDS will set out the revised programme for the Core Strategy, which is a key Council document underpinning delivery of Council priorities and the Sustainable Community Strategy. In order to progress the Core Strategy, issues around the development requirements in Bath & North East Somerset arising from the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) need to be addressed. In September 2008, the Council raised significant concerns about the level and deliverability of the growth requirements in the district arising from the Governments proposed changes. The new timetable proposed for the Core Strategy seeks to take into account the anticipated RSS timetable.

5.5 Recent legislative and regulatory changes to the content and programme of the Core Strategy will enable the allocation of strategic sites in the Core Strategy. These are sites which are necessary to the deliver of the strategy. The Core Strategy will allocate these sites in outline and establish the strategic development requirements which will be supplemented by more detailed Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). This will provide the opportunity to integrate the emerging Regeneration Delivery Plans for the main areas of change in the districts urban centres (See report to Council 20/11/2008) in the statutory planning system in order to give them the necessary weight to deliver the Council's regeneration proposals. The Core Strategy will provide the context and framework for developing these documents as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs).

Site Allocations DPD

5.6 This DPD will complement the Core Strategy and allocate those sites outside the strategic sites in the Core Strategy which are needed to bring forward development. It will ensure that new development proceeds in a co-ordinated way and is closely aligned to new infrastructure. It will also demonstrate how the District's housing land supply will be met as required by government. Failure to demonstrate an adequate housing supply makes the district vulnerable to aggressive planning applications in sub-optimum locations which may not be well related to the Council's spatial strategy and priorities. However, this DPD will only be brought forward once the Core Strategy has reached a stage where it will be possible to divert resources.

Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Show-people DPD

5.7 The Council needs to set out policies and proposals as they relate to Gypsies and Travellers in Bath & North East Somerset and to establish the location of a number of sites suitable to meet the housing needs of Gypsies and Travellers in the District. The RSS has identified the number of pitches required for each district within the region but not the locations. The purpose of this DPD would not only be to provide sites for the future housing needs for gypsies and travellers but assist in addressing the problem of illegal encampments in the District. The DPD will complement the proposed criterion based policy in the emerging Core Strategy which will be used to meet unexpected demand in accordance with the requirements of Circular 1/2006 `Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Sites'.

5.8 This DPD is being prepared jointly by the 4 West of England Unitary Authorities. There has been some slippage in the timetable as a result of revised governance procedures for the West of England Partnership, which came into effect in summer 2008 as well as the need for further work.

5.9 This SPD will enable capture of contributions from new development in a co-ordinated way for community projects, infrastructure provision and related matters. The SPD was published for consultation at the end of 2008 and is due to be adopted in Spring 2009. This is later than originally scheduled and the LDS will need to be amended to take account of the slippage in the timetable.

5.10 The SPD now includes Affordable Housing to ensure a comprehensive approach to developer contributions. This supersedes the proposal in the LDS to revise the existing Supplementary Planning Guidance.

5.11 The Planning Obligations SPD has been formulated as a `living' document to be updated as required to meet the changing evidence base and requirements on development. As a result a review of the SPD will need to begin before the end of 2009 and this is reflected in the LDS.

5.12 Related to this are the Proposals for the new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is due to come into force in spring 2009. This may require the preparation of a Development Plan Document. In addition the Core Strategy will be supported by an Infrastructure Delivery Plan to ensure that new development proceeds in a sustainable way and in parallel with the necessary infrastructure. The implications of CIL, the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and the role of new development will be assessed as part of as future review of the LDS.

Strategic Site SPDs

5.13 For the key development locations, the Core Strategy will allocate a number of strategic sites to guide areas where significant change is programmed over the next few years. These are sites such as Bath's riverside corridor, the town centres of Keynsham, Midsomer Norton & Radstock as well as the urban extensions. The city/town centre sites will be supplemented and informed by more detailed frameworks reflecting the work undertaken as part of the Council's Regeneration Delivery Plans.

Governance

5.14 In order to provide an opportunity for wider and early Member involvement across all the political groups and ongoing debate/dialogue as the constituent Local Development Framework (LDF) documents are progressed, it is proposed that a Member Working Group is established.

5.15 The Council has already embarked on its Local Development Framework (LDF). Members have been involved with the initial stages of the LDF process through workshops, briefings and training activities. Further events are planned in the future throughout the district. In addition ward councillors affected will continue to be kept in close contact with how ideas and proposals were evolving in the preparation process. All LDF documents will need to be formally approved by Cabinet as and, at key stages in the preparation process, by Full Council. However, experience shows that the formal committee structure will not be the best means of achieving this.

5.16 At times, a large amount of material may need to be reviewed, to a tight timescale in order to achieve the "milestones" for the preparation of each LDF document it is considered that the best way of dealing with this expeditiously is for a Members Working Group to be set up. This would advise officers on broad direction and on technical matters. The Group's views would be taken into account in the preparation of officers' reports which would then be submitted in the normal fashion to Cabinet and/or Full Council for approval.

Evidence Base

5.16 At Public Examination, the Core Strategy and other LDF documents will be assessed for their `soundness' and this will include how far then policy framework and proposals are based on up-to-date evidence. A number of cross-service studies have therefore being undertaken and these are nearing finalisation (see report to Council on 20^th November 2008). Some of these studies provide data whilst others, such as those on retail and employment, suggest a strategy to the Council. These strategies will be taken into account in formulation of the council's policy documents and will be progressively released as they are completed. The publication of these studies is not an endorsement by the Council as the emerging policy documents may or may not accept the recommendations. The list of studies and their scope is set out in the draft LDS.

6 RISK MANAGEMENT

6.1 The report author and Lead Cabinet member have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

6.2 The LDS provides the programme for the preparation of key policy documents such as the Bath & North East Somerset Core Strategy, the Joint Waste Core Strategy and the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document. The risks of not progressing the timely preparation of the Core Strategy are that the Council will be vulnerable to aggressive planning applications which are more likely to be granted on appeal. This would mean that the Council loses control over the location and timing of development resulting in unplanned, greenfield development being delivered in unfavourable locations and it not being phased with the delivery of necessary infrastructure.

6.3 The joint commissioning of the Waste Core Strategy was agreed by all Councils in the West of England Partnership. The Waste Core Strategy provides the necessary policies for Bath & North East Somerset Council to establish cross linkages in terms of movement of waste and interdependency between Authorities as recognised in the Joint Residual Municipal Waste Management Strategy.

6.4 If the Council does not have an up-to-date LDS which brings forward the necessary planning framework, the government may impose one which the Local Authority will need to resource.

7 EQUALITIES

7.1 An equalities impact assessment is not required for the LDS itself although the majority of documents it relates to will require one. The Council is aware of its statutory general duty to promote race equality requiring public authorities to take steps to tackle unlawful racial discrimination; promote equal opportunities and good relations between different racial groups. In particular, the identification of sites through the Gypsy and Traveller DPD will move further towards ensuring that the accommodation needs of the gypsy and traveller community are adequately met.

8 RATIONALE

8.1 A review of the current LDS is necessary to ensure the council has an up-to-date planning framework to guide the development and take account of climate change.

9 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

9.1 None, preparation and review of the LDS is a mandatory responsibility.

10 CONSULTATION

10.1 Cabinet members; Section 151 Finance Officer; Chief Executive; Monitoring Officer

10.2 Consultation carried out through circulation of draft report and other consultation with Strategic Directors' Group.

11 ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

11. Social Inclusion; Customer Focus; Sustainability; Property;; Human Rights; Other Legal Considerations

12 ADVICE SOUGHT

12.1 The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director - Support Services) have had the opportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication.