Issue details

The Council is required by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) (as

amended) to maintain an up-to-date Local Development Scheme (LDS). The purpose of an LDS is to set out the timetable for the delivery of Council produced planning policy documents and to inform local people and stakeholders.

Work is ongoing on the Local Plan Review, Gypsy and Traveller DPD and Design and Sustainability DPD in line with the Local Development Scheme 2022-2024 which was adopted by Full Council on the 28^th September 2022.

The report was taken to the Planning and Infrastructure Policy Advisory Committee on 11^th January 2023 and the committee was made aware of the possible amendments to the LDS in regards to the Local Plan Review. Since PI PAC, the Council has received the Inspector’s Stage 1 Interim Report. Officers are now establishing from the Inspector a set of dates for the potential stage 2 hearing sessions, this would then allow officers to update the Local Plan Review element of the Local Development Scheme and this could be updated before adoption by Council. Officers are currently not in a position to confirm when the stage 2 hearing sessions are likely to commence nor the subsequent changes to the LPR timeline. 

There have been no changes in circumstances to the scope of the Design and Sustainability DPD and Gypsy and Traveller DPD since the previous version of the Local Development Scheme. However, the timetable for the production of the Gypsy and Traveller DPD has been altered as part of this LDS to include two consultations at Regulation 18 (18a and 18b). A new LDS is therefore required which will set out the associated alterations to the timetable for delivery of the Gypsy and Traveller DPD. There have been no changes in the timescales for the Design and Sustainability DPD. The new Local Development Scheme 2023-2025 can be found as an appendix to the report.

This report seeks a recommendation that the Local Development Scheme 2023-2025, attached as an Urgent Update to Appendix 1 to the report, be recommended to Council for approval.