Business, Innovation, Employment & Skills Cabinet Member – Minutes – 1 March 2017

16 (16) NEW NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE LOCAL PLAN REGULATION 18 STATEMENT: INITIAL CONSULTATION – The Director of Operations submitted a report seeking approval to publish the public consultation the ‘Regulation 18 Statement: Initial Consultation’ as the first formal stage of the preparation of the new North Lincolnshire Local Plan together with the accompanying Sustainability Appraisal/Environmental Assessment.

The current North Lincolnshire Local Development Framework (LDF) covered the period from 2006 to 2026 and comprises the Core Strategy, Housing and Employment Land Allocation Development Plan Document and the Lincolnshire Lakes Area Action Plan. These were all adopted during 2011 and 2016. Alongside the saved policies of the 2003 Local Plan they formed the Development Plan for North Lincolnshire. It was widely acknowledged that they had been instrumental in driving forward the planned growth of the area, in conjunction with other public sector bodies and private sector interests.

There had been a great deal of community support for the strategy and proposals of the LDF. However, the Government required councils to put in place Local Plans which provided certainty for the supply of housing land for a period up to 10 years ahead and ideally for up to 15 years, together with proposals for economic growth, infrastructure development and other specific requirements. It was therefore now considered necessary to prepare the next Local Plan for North Lincolnshire which would cover the period up to 2036.

The process for preparing statutory Local Plans was set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. Regulation 18 represented the first (statutory) stage in the process of preparing the plan. This in essence represented the “scoping” stage of the Local Plan preparation process, where the council asked key stakeholders, including local communities, what they thought the plan should contain prior to any initial drafting. The council would consider the contents of the new Housing White Paper which was proposing simplifying the local plan process, so that the plan could progress at pace.

The report set out full details Local Plan process and requirements.

Resolved – (a) That the public consultation the ‘Regulation 18 Statement: Initial Consultation’ as the first formal stage of the preparation of the new North Lincolnshire Local Plan, be approved, and (b) that the ‘Regulation 18 Statement: Initial Consultation’ be consulted upon as soon as practicable for a period no shorter than six weeks in length.