Several years of work developing a new Local Plan for Stafford Borough is set to be stopped – and a new process to prepare another document will begin instead, a senior councillor has said.
Work on the 2020-2040 Local Plan, which set out a blueprint for future development of new homes and workspace across the borough, got as far as putting forward Stafford Borough Council’s “preferred options” in a public consultation in 2022 – and in that year the previous Conservative administration were aiming for the document – a legal requirement – to be formally adopted in 2024.
Since then there has been a change in council administration and a major shake-up of national planning policy and the Local Plan process. Last year also saw a change in national Government – and new housing targets have been massively increased.
In recent months the borough council’s current administration – a mix of Labour, Green Party and Stafford Borough Independents – has come under fire from the Conservative group which is now in opposition for delays in bringing forward the latest Local Plan. The delays led to fears it would become “open season” for developers looking to build in the borough.
On Thursday (March 6) a recommendation to “stop work on the current New Local Plan 2020-2040 and begin the process of advanced work prior to the official start of a new plan under the new plan system” was approved by cabinet members however. The new plan will cover the period 2025-2045 and a new timetable, known as a Local Development Scheme, will be agreed and brought into effect from March 19.
The changes mean that an extra £508,310 will need to be budgeted to progress the new Local Plan, a report to the cabinet said. This has already been approved when the council set its budget last month.
Councillor Ant Reid, cabinet member for economic development and planning, said at Thursday’s meeting it was a “momentous decision” being made.
“We are re-starting the Local Plan process for some very good reasons”, he told fellow cabinet meetings.
“The feedback we got from the preferred options (consultation) was high quality. There was a lot of very good information in there which led our officers to take a look at the evidence, what we need to do and to re-evaluate the plans put forward in the preferred options.
“Beyond the control of the local people are a number of very big changes in Government policy around Local Plans and the planning process. These have led us to the point where we wish to restart our Local Plan.
“The new process is a streamlined and optimistic approach to coming up with a new Local Plan, which has a four-month notice period before we start a plan, and then a 30-month process to go from gateway one through to finalisation and adoption of a Local Plan. The plan we will be coming up with is a plan that meets the Government targets for the real housing need in our area.
“The plan period says 826 dwellings per year. That is an increase on what the Preferred Options had said; that had a position of 65% of this number.
“We need to collect the evidence around appropriate locations and make sure we are approving the right houses and employment for the right people in the right places. And we need to make sure there is the right evidence to support the infrastructure that will be needed, to ensure that settlements and the economy are well-supported.”
In neighbouring Cannock Chase the district’s latest Local Plan, which covers 2018-2040, was formally submitted to the Secretary of State in November. Formal adoption of the document is expected later this year.
But Stafford Borough Council’s deputy leader Rob Kenney said on Thursday:
“Those districts that are carrying on with their Local Plan will be doing it under the old rules. Even if they have gone to examination and they have adopted their plans, they will have to go into immediate review because their numbers aren’t touching any of their targets.”
Councillor Tony Pearce, cabinet member for climate change and nature recovery, said:
“I think it’s well known that the decision of the Government to massively increase the number of housing sites that have to me made available has posed problems – not just for us but for councils throughout the country. There are doubts as to whether the strategy is correct and will achieve results.
“But I have to accept that we have to go through this process and ensure that whatever we do decide on has proper consultation with residents, that we seek their views and take them into account in whatever decisions we make.”
