Issue - meetings

Issue for Decision

The Committee to consider Maidstone Borough Council’s formal response to the Consultation on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 which will be passed on to the independent Examiner at the next stage of the Neighbourhood Planning process.

Decision Made

1.  The Committee approved the formal representations on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan (July 2015) according to Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 as set out in the report.

2.  The Committee agreed that an informative be added to the representations set out in the report explaining that during its deliberations of its representations to the Examiner on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan, the Strategic Planning Sustainability & Transport Committee noted that Local Plan Policy ED2 (Retention of Employment Sites) and Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan Policy H6 (Land for Employment and Housing) are inter-related and should not be read in insolation of each other.

The Committee considered Maidstone Borough Council’s formal response to the Consultation on the draft Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012, which would be passed on to the independent Examiner at the next stage of the Neighbourhood Planning process.

The Committee heard that Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) was required to let the examiner know where the draft Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan was different to the adopted MBC Local Plan policies.  The draft Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan was mostly compatible with the MBC policies or silent.  Where the plan was not in conformity with these policies the specific areas were outlined in the proposed representations in the report.

The Committee discussed that the supporting text for some of the policies in the draft Neighbourhood Plan were not in conformity with the MBC policies and did not reflect the text of the policy in the draft Neighbourhood Plan. The recommended representations reflected this.  It was agreed it was the role of Staplehurst Parish Council to make comment to the examiner on the representations made by MBC.

The Committee agreed that an informative would be added to the representations noting that MBC Local Plan policy ED2 was inter-related with policy H6 of the draft Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan and should not be read in isolation of each other.

RESOLVED: That:

1.  The Committee approved the formal representations on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan (July 2015) according to Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 as set out in the report.

Voting:  For – 7  Against – 0    Abstentions – 2

2.  The Committee agreed that an informative be added to the representations set out in the report explaining that during its deliberations of its representations to the Examiner on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan, the Strategic Planning Sustainability & Transport Committee noted that Local Plan Policy ED2 (Retention of Employment Sites) and Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan Policy H6 (Land for Employment and Housing) were inter-related and should not be read in insolation of each other.