Agenda item

Report of the Executive Member for Housing and Planning

In the absence of Councillor Jay hayes, Executive Member for Housing and Planning, Councillor Linda Woodings presented the report on the Greater Nottingham Publication Draft Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan) which has been prepared in partnership with Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe Borough Councils, and sets out a coherent and consistent strategic planning framework across the four local authority areas.

The Strategic Plan sets a strategic planning framework for Nottingham City to 2041, including the broad scale and location of housing and economic growth over that period, together with supporting infrastructure and how environmental matters will be considered. The Strategic Plan will be part of the statutory Development Plan that all local planning authorities must prepare by law. The document is at the ‘Publication’ stage of the plan preparation process and is the first formal stage in the production of the document (i.e. Regulation 19); it follows several stages of informal consultation.

Resolved to

(1)  approve the Publication Draft Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan for consultation in so far as it relates to Nottingham City, to allow a period of public representations;

(2)  delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Transport to make any minor editing changes such as typographical, formatting, or changes to imagery necessary to the Publication Draft Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan and any supporting evidence documents prior to consultation.

Reasons for decisions:

·  Production of a Local Plan is a statutory requirement. If no planning framework is in place, the government’s default presumption in favour of sustainable development will apply to relevant planning applications.

·  It would be possible for Nottingham City Council to publish a separate Local Plan, without aligning with the surrounding District’s Local Plans. However, the ‘Duty to Cooperate’ introduced through the Localism Bill requires councils to demonstrate at Examination that they have worked with neighbouring councils in addressing cross boundary planning matters, and by preparing a joint Strategic Plan, this duty is met. Furthermore, working with partner Councils in Greater Nottingham has resulted in significant cost savings, achieved through commissioning one consistent evidence base, and there will be one examination rather than four.

Other options considered:

·  Production of a Local Plan is a statutory requirement. If no planning framework is in place, the government’s default presumption in favour of sustainable development will apply to relevant planning applications. Not preparing a plan is therefore not considered to be a reasonable option.

·  An alternative option would be for Nottingham City Council to publish a separate Local Plan, without aligning with the surrounding District’s Local Plans. However, the ‘Duty to Cooperate’ introduced through the Localism Bill requires councils to demonstrate at Examination that they have worked with neighbouring councils in addressing cross boundary planning matters, and by preparing a Strategic Plan, this duty is met. Furthermore, working with partner Councils in Greater Nottingham has resulted in significant cost savings, achieved through commissioning one consistent evidence base, and there will be one examination rather than four.