Agenda item

The purpose of the report is to explain the implications of the emerging National Planning Policy Framework on the South Kesteven Local Plan review and recommend that Cabinet endorses the continuing preparation of the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Local Plan in accordance with the approved Local Development Scheme.

Purpose of report

To explain the implications of the emerging National Planning Policy Framework on the South Kesteven Local Plan review.

Decision

Cabinet endorsed the preparation of the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Local Plan in accordance with the approved Local Development Scheme (Contained as Option 1 within the report).

Alternative options considered and rejected

Other Options considered, and discounted, included:

Option 2: Pause Local Plan preparation

Option 2 assumed that the consultation National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) would be finalised ‘as is’ requiring the Council to revise the Local Plan to take into account the new NPPF, as such the following steps would have been undertaken:

•      Pause preparation of the Regulation 19 Local Plan

·         Commence work on revising the Local Plan to take into account the revised NPPF, with the view of publishing a Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan, including additional sites to meet the increased housing need, as soon as possible after the NPPF was published, to meet the December 2026 Submission deadline.

·         Since the publication of the consultation version of the NPPF, work on evidence had temporarily paused until a decision was made as to how to proceed. As Option 2 paused plan preparation, evidence work would also continue to be paused until the NPPF was published. However, to take into account a revised NPPF with increased housing numbers and new national policy, it was anticipated that approximately five evidence-based documents would require review with unknown cost implications.

·         Officers had carried out a high-level assessment of the potential housing sites that had been submitted through the ‘call for sites’ process and believed that, in the event of a higher housing requirement as proposed in the consultation NPPF, the Council would not need to reopen the call for sites.

·         If, when the ‘new’ NPPF was published, it transpired that the Council could have proceeded using the current housing requirements and the deadline for submission to the Secretary of State was not extended beyond the June 2025 deadline, this option would have meant that the Council would not be able to submit its Local Plan for examination. The risks associated with this option are set out in the risk assessment contained within the report.

Reasons for decision

It was resolved to proceed with Regulation 19 Pre-Submission, pushing consultation to January 2025. It was important to note, that amending the consultation date to January remained in accordance with the Council’s published Local Development Scheme which scheduled consultation of the Pre-Submission Local Plan to commence in Winter 2024.

Whilst this option was at risk, it was deemed that the Council would be in the best position to switch to either Option 1 Scenario a or b depending on the outcome of the NPPF, once published.

Whilst Option 1 Scenario a would inevitably require review of a raft of evidence documents, the government had indicated that:

“We recognise that these arrangements would require some local planning authorities to undertake unforeseen additional work and reopen engagement with communities. Therefore, the Government will provide direct funding support to help these authorities progress their plans to examination quickly.”

There could be some abortive costs associated with this option if the ‘new’ NPPF was published ‘as is’.

The Local Plan was at an advanced stage with the aim of submitting the draft Plan to the inspectorate by June 2025, in order to meet the existing transitional deadline. Final adoption of the Local Plan was due to take place in summer 2026.

The Council consulted on the draft Local Plan earlier in 2024 and a response to this consultation was being prepared. The existing Local Plan worked on a requirement of 687 new homes to be delivered across South Kesteven per year, up to 2041. The new government made a manifesto promise of upping housing delivery, with a suggested increase to 912 homes per year.

The following points were highlighted during debate:

·         The new government had not yet provided certainty to officers over housebuilding numbers.

•      In order to achieve the delivery of further housing, government needed to consider public investment in the infrastructure supporting new housing provision. Further investment was needed for affordable housing. Currently, the Council was reliant on the private sector to deliver housing targets.