Agenda item

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Emergency Planning.

Cabinet endorsed the submitted officer responses made to the recent consultations as the official view of Dorset Council:

(i)             The BCP Council Local Plan consultation, as set out in appendix 1 of the report to Cabinet of 11 June 2024.

(ii)            The BCP Council Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule consultation as set out in Appendix 3 of the report to Cabinet of 11 June 2024.

The Strategic Planning Manager advise Cabinet that the consultation period ran during the pre-election period. So, an officer response was prepared and sent to BCP by the close of the consultation date.  The report before members sought Cabinet’s endorsement of the response that had already been made.

BCP’s Local Plan was at an advanced stage and neighbouring authorities were obliged to engage with each other during the production of a Local Plan under the Duty to Cooperate. The Strategic Planning Manager confirmed that officers from Dorset and BCP Councils had met regularly during the process.

In respect of the housing numbers, BCP Council’s Local Plan proposed to meet a housing requirement of 1,600 homes over the plan period. This delivery rate was below the Local Housing Need figure calculated using the Standard Method, but this was because of the specific characteristics of population growth in the BCP area.  Members were advised that if, during the examination, it was found that BCP was not meeting their requirements of housing, they may need to look at the figures again.  Alternatively, they could come to Dorset Council, under the duty to cooperate and Dorset would need to decide whether it was appropriate to meet some or all this unmet need.

The response submitted to the consultation supported the use of a lower housing requirement for the BCP Local Plan, but it also raised concerns about the deliverability of the strategy for delivering housing. BCP would need to demonstrate that they had thoroughly examined all opportunities for meeting their housing need before Dorset Council would consider whether there were opportunities for any unmet need to be met within the Dorset area.

In response to questions and comments regarding housing, the Strategic Planning Manager advised that jointly with BCP Council, Dorset had produced evidence which looked at the demographics that underlie the housing numbers using the standard methodology. If during examination BCP was successful in convincing the government that the lower number was correct that could potentially be to Dorset Council’s advantage.

The Strategic Planning Manager responded to several other questions around the Standard Method and the Duty to Cooperate with neighbouring councils, and as a result the Leader of the Council agreed that an all-member briefing should be arranged to address these detailed concerns.

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland seconded by Cllr J Andrews

Decision

Cabinet endorsed the submitted officer responses made to the recent consultations as the official view of Dorset Council:

(a)           The BCP Council Local Plan consultation, as set out in appendix 1 of the report to Cabinet of 11 June 2024.

(b)           The BCP Council Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule consultation as set out in Appendix 3 of the report to Cabinet of 11 June 2024.

Reason for the decision

It was important that Dorset Council engaged with BCP Council to help shape their Local Plan and to ensure that any cross-boundary effects were identified and managed through joint working.  This engagement alongside the continued engagement that had taken place during the production of the Local Plan, ensured that the Council’s obligations under the Duty to Cooperate were fulfilled.