Local Plan Pre-submission publication 2018

We have published the Pre-Submission Publication document for consultation which takes into account the Preferred Options consultation (Summer 2017) and the Issues and Options consultation (Autumn 2015), along with the body of evidence that the District has now developed. The Pre-Submission document is the final stage of plan making before the document is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. It sets out the development requirements for the district and identifies the development strategy to meet the development need up to 2036 along with proposed strategic, development management and allocations policies.

During the consultation period we sought your views on the Pre-Submission document. Unlike previous consultations, we are required to ask specific questions which will give people an opportunity to comment on how the Local Plan has been prepared, whether its aims are achievable and whether the plan is based on a robust evidence base. The consultation accords with the Town and Country (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as set out in the Statement of Community Involvement.

The consultation was held online.

Copies of the Pre-Submission document were also available for viewing at the following venues during their normal opening hours:

• Kidderminster Library
• Stourport Library
• Bewdley Library
• Customer Service Centre (The Hub), Vicar Street, Kidderminster
• Wyre Forest House, Finepoint Way, Kidderminster

Drop-in sessions

Our drop in sessions provided the opportunity to talk to officers.  

The consultation on the Local Plan Pre-Submission Publication started on Thursday 1 November 2018 and closed promptly at 5pm Monday 17 December 2018. Consultation is now closed, no late responses will be accepted.

The consultation response form followed the same structure as the standard response form issued by the Planning Inspectorate. This is so that consultation responses are set out in the way the Planning Inspector will consider comments at the public examination.

We only accepted responses submitted using the consultation response form.

However you choose to respond, in order for the Planning Inspector to consider your comments you must provide your name and address with your response. Representations made at this stage in the process cannot remain anonymous, but details will only be used in relation to the Wyre Forest District Local Plan review. Your response will be made available to view as part of the Examination process. View our data protection and privacy notice. 

Consultation is now closed, no late responses will be accepted.

Could comments be submitted on behalf of a group or neighbourhood?

Yes. Where there are groups who share a common view on how they wish to see the plan modified, it would be very helpful for that group to send a single representation that represents that view, rather than for a large number of individuals to send in separate representations that repeat the same points. In such cases the group should indicate how many people it is representing; a list of their names and addresses, and how the representation has been agreed e.g. via a parish council/action group meeting; signing a petition etc. The representation should still be submitted on the standard consultation response form with the information attached. Please indicate in Part A of this form the group you are representing.

Do I need to attend the Public Examination?

You could indicate whether at this stage you consider there is a need to present your representation as a hearing session during the Public Examination. You should note that Planning Inspectors do not give any more weight to issues presented in person than written evidence. The Planning Inspector will use his/her own discretion in regard to who participates at the Public Examination. All examination hearings will be open to the public.

We held this consultation to allow interested parties to make representation on the soundness and legal compliance of the Local Plan. Our statement of representation procedure sets out the procedure for making representations to the plan.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (para 35) states that to be sound a local plan must be:

• Positively prepared – providing a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs, and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development;
• Justified – an appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence;
• Effective – deliverable over the plan period, and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters that have been dealt with rather than deferred, as evidenced by the statement of common ground; and
• Consistent with national policy – enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the NPPF.

The Local Plan Pre-Submission Publication consultation has ended. 

The submission version will be approved by a meeting of the full Council which is expected to happen in February 2020. We will then submit the submission version of the Local Plan for examination by an independent Government appointed Planning Inspector. Consultation responses received for the Local Plan Pre-Submission Publication document and the updated evidence base studies will be passed to the Planning Inspector.

We anticipate that an examination in public will be held on the plan in 2020 with adoption of the Local Plan taking place in 2020.

The timetable after submission is beyond our control and will be in the hands of the Government appointed Planning Inspector.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is required during the preparation of a Local Plan. The local planning authority must carry out an appraisal of the sustainability of the proposals. This will help the authority to assess how the plan will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.  Sustainability appraisal is integral to the preparation and development of a Local Plan, so work should start at the same time that work starts on developing the plan.

The Pre-Submission Sustainability Appraisal Report has been prepared alongside the Local Plan Pre-Submission Publication document and was available for comments during the consultation period between 1 November 2018 and 5pm on 17 December 2018. All comments should have been submitted via the consulation portal or by using the consultation response form.

View the Pre-Submission Sustainability Appraisal documents below:

Sustainability Appraisal October 2018 Main Report

Sustainability Appraisal October 2018 - Appendix B

Sustainability Appraisal October 2018 - Non Technical Summary

A summary of responses to our previous preferred options consultation is available on the preferred options information page.