Reason
for the Decision
·
The
Minerals Strategy 2014, with Policies Map, was adopted by Bournemouth,
Dorset and Poole Councils in 2014.
·
It has recently been noted for the first time
that an error occurred when the Policies Map was being prepared, and land in
the vicinity of West Moors that should have been shown as being safeguarded for
minerals was not shown in this way.
·
This error has come to light as a result of
enforcement action being taken at a site in this area.
·
The error needs to be corrected, in order
that documents submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in support of this
enforcement action are factually correct, and also to ensure that the Policies
Map is accurate in spatially representing the policies of the Plan.
No-one has been disadvantaged by the error, or its
correction. No change is to be made to
any of the adopted policies of the
Minerals Strategy 2014. Case law
(see below) has demonstrated that planning authorities are allowed to make
factual corrections to address errors in a Policies Map, following adoption of
a Plan.
Alternative Options
considered and rejected
The only alternative is to do nothing, which could
have future implications for misleading land owners, developers or the public,
and could lead to parties being disadvantaged.
It
could also have an impact on current enforcement action, and the Council could
be criticised for not taking action having discovered this error.
Budget Implications
No
implications from making the correction.
Legal Implications
No
implications from making the correction.
Reference Documents
The case law referred to earlier is:
R(on the application of Douglas Bond)
v Vale of White Horse District Council [2019] EWHC 3080 (Admin) in which
‘The Court held that whilst a Proposals Map may be a local development document,
it is not a development plan document for the purpose of the Planning and
Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and therefore is not subject to the procedures in
the Act that require the draft to be submitted for independent
examination.
The role of the Proposals Map is to illustrate the
policies in the development plan document with which it is associated.
Where the Proposals Map has been drawn up incorrectly, so that it does not
illustrate the adopted policies, a correction of the map is not an alteration
of the development plan document since no alteration of the development plan
itself is required.
The powers in Sections 23(1), 23(5) and 26(1) of
the Act were sufficiently wide to allow a correction to a Proposals Map in such
circumstances’.
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 17/11/2020
Decision due: 16 Nov 2020 by Portfolio Holder for Planning
Lead member: Portfolio Holder for Planning
Lead director: Executive Director, Place
Contact: Trevor Badley, Lead Project Officer (Minerals & Waste) Email: trevor.badley@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.