Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Portfolio Holder for Planning.

(a)    That the timetables outlined in the revised Local Development Scheme be acknowledged and it was agreed to bring it into effect as of 12 March 2024.

(b)    That the Local Development Scheme be published on the Dorset Council Website.

(c)    That to comply with the request in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December 2023, a copy of the Local Development Scheme be sent to the Secretary of State.

Reason for the decision

To meet the requirement set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December 2023 all Local Planning Authorities need to update their Local Development Scheme within 12 weeks of the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework. The revised Local Development Scheme needed to be agreed and sent to the Secretary of State by 13 March 2024.

Cabinet considered a report of the Portfolio Holder for Planning regarding an update on the Local Development Scheme to establish the timetable to produce the Dorset Council Plan, the Dorset Council Minerals and Waste Local Plan. 

Members were advised that the update was required in response to the written statement made by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 19 December 2023.

In response to questions, the Portfolio Holder advised that the changes to the plan-making system included a streamlined 30-month local plan production timetable and the introduction of new Gateway Assessments into the process. The proposed changes would remove the need for certain policies through the introduction of a national set of development management policies. The statutory “Duty to Cooperate” had also been removed in preference to an ‘alignment policy’ which required councils to engage with key stakeholders in the production of their local plans. Given the stage that the Dorset Council Local Plan had reached, and the work required to resolve the identified issues, it was unlikely that the Council would be in the position to submit a complete local plan by 30 June 2025. Members were advised that it would be necessary to move across to the new planning-making system and to start preparing a new-style local plan in November 2024.

In response to questions around the statement of community involvement and the Weymouth Master Plan and how engagement would take place, the Chairman confirmed that this information would be shared with members outside of the meeting.

In response to concerns and comments regarding unplanned development, the Portfolio Holder advised that there were 33 neighbourhood plans in place, carrying the appropriate weight, to support planning development decisions. In total there were 60 communities working on neighbourhood plans in order for them to decide about what they wanted in their communities. The Head of Planning also confirmed that as work moved forward with the preparation of the plan, the emerging plan would gain evidence-based weight in future planning decision making.

It was proposed by Cllr D Walsh and seconded by Cllr L Beddow

Decision

(a)    That the timetables outlined in the revised Local Development Scheme be acknowledged and it was agreed to bring it into effect as of 12 March 2024.

(b)    That the Local Development Scheme be published on the Dorset Council Website.

(c)    That to comply with the request in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December 2023, a copy of the Local Development Scheme be sent to the Secretary of State.

Reason for the decision

To meet the requirement set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December 2023 all Local Planning Authorities need to update their Local Development Scheme within 12 weeks of the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework. The revised Local Development Scheme needed to be agreed and sent to the Secretary of State by 13 March 2024.