Agenda item

Adoption of the South Somerset Local Plan

Decision:

RESOLVED:

That District Executive recommend to Council:

1. To accept the conclusions of the Inspector’s Report and approve the necessary Main Modifications to make the South Somerset Local Plan (2006 – 2028) sound (Appendix A);

2. To approve the Additional Modifications (Appendix C);

3. To endorse the adoption version of the South Somerset Local Plan (2006 – 2028) (Appendix B) and recommend that Full Council adopt the South Somerset Local Plan (2006 – 2028);

4. To approve the Adoption Statement (Appendix D), Sustainability Appraisal Adoption Statement (Appendix E), and revised Policies Maps (Appendix F); and

5. Delegate responsibility to the Assistant Director for Economy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Spatial Planning to make any final minor text amendments which may be necessary to enable the Adopted South Somerset Local Plan (2006 – 2028) and Policies Map to be published.

Reason:

To consider the conclusions of the Inspector’s Report, and note how the 12 Main Modifications and Additional Modifications amend the South Somerset Local Plan (2006 – 2028) to create the adoption version of the plan, and to recommend to Council that it be formally adopted.

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Spatial Planning introduced the report and highlighted recent events including the Inspector’s report of 8 January 2015 and his conclusion that the plan is considered to be sound. He highlighted the modifications and minor changes, and noted that it was proposed to switch around recommendations 2 and 3 in the agenda report. A revised risk matrix was presented for if the plan was adopted, and an alternative one for it was not adopted.

The Principal Spatial Planner, reminded members the reason for the revised Local Plan was due to modifications required by the Inspector to make the plan sound. The delegated responsibility referred to in recommendation 5 was not for material changes but only to clarify some wording. He explained the recommendations in detail, the implications of not adopting the plan, and noted that the revised policy maps should now be easier to understand.

The comments of Scrutiny were noted:

· Members had considered the process undertaken to get to this point and noted the significant implications of not adopting the Plan.

· Gratitude to Principal Spatial Planner for clarifying that planning policies HG3 and HG4 were more likely than SS2 to be impacted by recent government announcement on the levels at which affordable housing contributions are triggered. Scrutiny sought clarification on how the plan will react to any national policy changes and the results of legal challenges being mounted by other local authorities?

· Clarification was also sought on the potential for developers to notice that during the life of the plan, the 5 year housing supply could become outdated and were informed that fluctuations will happen and that an effective monitoring process should help manage this situation.

During discussion, several concerns were raised about the content and different interpretation of the risk matrices. In particular several members felt the impact would be greater than indicated if the plan was not adopted. The Chairman acknowledged the matter may be slightly subjective, and it was agreed that the risk matrices would be reconsidered before presentation to Council.

In response to other comments raised, officers clarified that the plan identified some needs and aspirations, and that these would be provided where possible, but it did not state who the provider would be. The plan was there as a tool to influence industry and developers.

At the conclusion of debate, members were content to recommend the report, with the amended order of recommendations and risk matrix, to Full Council.