Agenda item

Committee considered a report of the Head of Planning which reported the findings of the Inspector’s Report on the new Local Plan for Bolsover District and the recommended Main Modifications. The report also proposed that the Inspector’s recommended Main Modifications and identified Additional Modifications be incorporated into the version of the Local Plan for Bolsover District approved in April 2018 and that it be recommended to Council that the Local Plan for Bolsover District be adopted as the development plan for Bolsover District and replace the Bolsover District Local Plan (February 2000) and the saved policies within it.

The report set out the process followed by the Council in developing the required evidence base to shape and inform its potential planning strategy and policies for the period up to 2033, as well as the public engagement and consultation carried out.

In April 2018, the Council approved the proposed Local Plan for Bolsover District, which was followed by further consultation. Following submission of the Local Plan for Bolsover District in August 2018, Inspector Karen Baker DIPTP MA DIPMP MRTPI was appointed to undertake an independent examination of the document. The Local Plan Examination Hearing Sessions took place between Tuesday 21^st January to Wednesday 6^th February 2019 with an additional and final session on Tuesday 12^th March 2019.

The Inspector provided her judgement on the necessary Main Modifications on 14^th May 2019 and these were approved for public consultation by Planning Committee at its meeting on 5^th June 2019. Consultation on the necessary Main Modifications then took place, following which the Council submitted the representations received to the Inspector.

The Planning Inspectorate issued the Inspector’s Report to the Council on 15^th January 2020, which was then published and notice of its publication was given to those persons who requested to be notified, as well as to those who had submitted representations during the 2018 and 2019 consultations.

The Inspector’s Report set out the findings of the Examination and concluded that, with the recommended Main Modifications set out in the Appendix, the Local Plan for Bolsover District satisfied the requirements of Section 20(5) of the 2004 Act and met the criteria for soundness in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Additional modifications set out a number of changes that did not materially affect the Policies of the Local Plan and did not fall within the scope of the Examination. It was recommended that these changes be agreed by the Council to correct typographical and factual errors within its approved Local Plan.

The Council was also required to maintain an adopted Policies Map which illustrates geographically the application of the policies in the adopted development plan. A decision to adopt the Local Plan for Bolsover District would therefore necessitate an update to the Adopted Policies Map that accompanied the Bolsover District Local Plan that was adopted in February 2000.

Objections to a proposal to remove the Wildlife Corridors and Stepping Stones designation from a site at Ball Hill, South Normanton were outlined in the report. A minor change was recommended to remove only a small strip of the designated area. This amendment was shown on the Proposed Changes to the Submitted Policies Map, attached to the report at Appendix D.

Moved by Councillor Steve Fritchley and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED - That Planning Committee:

1)       notes the findings of Inspector’s Report as set out in Appendix B to the report;

2)       notes the Inspector’s recommended Main Modifications as set out in Appendix B to the report to make the plan sound and accept their incorporation within the version of the Local Plan for Bolsover District submitted to the Secretary of State in August 2018;

3)       notes the Additional Modifications as set out in Appendix C to the report to correct typographical and factual errors and agree to their incorporation within the version of the Local Plan for Bolsover District submitted to the Secretary of State in August 2018;

4)       notes the Policies Map Changes as set out in Appendix D to the report and agree to those changes being incorporated into the version of the Policies Map submitted to the Secretary of State in August 2018;

5)       recommends to Council that the Local Plan for Bolsover District is adopted as the development plan for Bolsover District and to replace the Bolsover District Local Plan (February 2000) and the saved policies within it.

(Joint Head of Planning)