Agenda item

    Report by Executive Director Alistair Cuningham.

Cllr Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member for Spatial Planning, Development Management and Property, presented the report which (i) set out the next stage of plan making in the light of the changes to national policy and the outcome of consultations; and (ii) sought agreement for the appropriate scale of housing growth to be tested for Wiltshire and the alternative development strategies to be considered through the plan-making process to inform a preferred

strategy.

Cllr Sturgis commented on the consultation undertaken in relation to the Local Plan to date and referred to the previous update report considered by Cabinet at their meeting on 26 March 2019. He also referred to the alternative development strategies for each housing market area that had been developed, as an example he highlighted the figures for Westbury and the high need for affordable housing in that area. The Cabinet noted that: the figures and strategies would be tested and this may lead to a hybrid development strategy being created; wider work is continuing on reviewing Core Strategy policies, which would include climate change issues and subject to testing for their compliance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The Cabinet noted that maintaining an up-to-date Local Plan in accordance with the NPPF would support Plan led growth across the county to support sustainable and resilient communities, safeguarding the authority from speculative and unplanned development.

The Cabinet received a statement from Adrian Brabazon about the housing numbers for Option CH-C.  Cllr Sturgis reported that in light of the issues raised by Mr Brabazon, an addendum had been published to update and clarify some of the figures detailed in the original report. 

In response to a question from Cllr Thorn about (i) the potential for the Government to impose a further increase in the housing numbers for Wiltshire, and the timing and methodology for this; and (ii) the possibility of repeating the workshops undertaken during the autumn of 2018, for communities (parish councils and neighbourhood planning groups) on the options detailed in the report, Cllr Sturgis explained that (i) the critical part related to the response from the Government on changes to the formula and updated figures, this was not anticipated any time soon.  However, once the process was at the submission stage, the figures were fixed for two years, and (ii) that the responses from the earlier consultation with Parish Councils were included in the report. The report highlighted that further consultation would take place similar to that undertaken in the autumn 2018.

In response to questions from Cllr Wickham, Cllr Clewer and the Leader of the Council in relation to a previous resolution of the Cabinet on 12 September 2017 (minute 117 – Wiltshire Local Plan Development Scheme Update) and 10 October 2017 (minute 130 – Wiltshire Core Strategy Review – Regulation 18 Consultation) about the Cabinet being satisfied that plans are in place to maintain a deliverable 5 year housing land supply in both Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council areas before approving the plans, Cllr Sturgis confirmed that there was a duty to cooperate with Swindon Borough Council and agreed that Wiltshire Council land would be protected by ensuring there was a 5 year land supply as part of the plan making processes, and the resolution referred to above could be restated in the current resolution.

In response to an additional question from Cllr Wickham about the growth proposals for Westbury in relation to additional housing, the Hawkeridge Business Park and infrastructure, Cllr Sturgis commented that the main aim of the next stage of the process was to test strategies. He confirmed that there was a high need for affordable housing in Westbury and that any future proposals would not include reductions in employment land.

The Cabinet heard from Cllr Smale, Chairman of the Environment Select Committee.  Cllr Smale confirmed that the Wiltshire Local Plan Review was already being heavily scrutinised through input with key stakeholders, and it was not pragmatic for the item to be added to the Select Committees Forward Work Programme.

Resolved:

1.    Endorse a housing range of between 40,840 and 45,600 homes as the basis to test and then inform an appropriate local plan housing requirement for Wiltshire for the period 2016 to 2036.

2.    Agree that the alternative development strategies, as set out in Appendicies 4 to 7, identified for the Chippenham Housing Market Area, Salisbury Housing Market Area, Swindon Housing Market Area (Wiltshire part) and Trowbridge Housing Market Area are an appropriate basis for further assessment for the purpose of testing the upper end of the proposed housing range and develop a preferred strategy for the plan.

3.    To reaffirm its commitment to joint working with Swindon Borough Council, however given the Council’s responsibilities to support the interests of Wiltshire’s communities, that Cabinet will need to be satisfied that plans are in place to maintain a deliverable 5 year housing land supply in both authority areas before approving the plans.

Reason for Decision:

To ensure that progress continues to be made on maintaining an up-to-date development plan for Wiltshire in line with revised national policy (NPPF, February 2019).

The NPPF requires local planning authorities to keep their Local Housing Need under review as new data becomes available and confirms that the local plan housing requirement is not set until the plan is submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination. It is therefore important to adopt a flexible approach to calculating the plan’s housing requirement as part of the plan making process to respond to future data if necessary.