Getting your Plan in Place

www.pas.gov.uk

Workshop Structure• Introductions & objectives

• Session 1: The importance of good plan-making

• Discussion: Role of Elected Members

• Session 2: Developing a sound plan

• Exercise / Discussion: Identifying the key challenges to adopting a sound Local Plan

• Lunch

Workshop Structure• Session 3: The Duty to Cooperate

• Exercise / Discussion: Complying with the Duty to Cooperate

• Session 4: The role of viability in plan-making

• Session 5: Programme management & what your plan should look like

• Session 6: Examination process

• Questions and discussion

Objective

To equip you with a thorough understanding of key plan-making principles and the steps that need to be taken in order that you can help your planning authority get a robust plan in place as soon as possible

Context

“Local Plans are the key to delivering sustainable development that reflects the vision and aspirations of local communities. Planning decisions must be taken in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise”

National Planning Policy Framework

What’s the problem?

• Recent figures indicate 52% of Local Authorities do not have a local plan in place

Source: Campaign to Protect Rural England, March 2013

However…

Source: Planning Resource, March 2013

• Recent data from PINS indicates less than 7% of Local Authorities have plans in place that are judged to fully comply with the NPPF

Situation

“…due weight should be given to relevant policies in existing plans according to their degree of consistency with this framework”

NPPF

Potential implications?

“End of NPPF transition period is no cause for alarm”

Nick BolesSource: Planning Resource, March 2013

vs

Potential implications?

“Savills, an unbiased observer, thinks that because of incomplete, inadequate or out of date local plans, a wave of unplanned new housing decisions could be imposed on local communities by planning inspectors. This could allow speculative development proposals to arise on many sites. As we predicted in 2011, this is likely to mean a rerun of the 1980s ‘Planning by Appeal’ system…”

Policy Exchange

Session 1: The importance of good plan-

making

Why good plan-making matters

• Having a robust Local Plan in place helps to:

- Move from plan-making to place-shaping;

- Provide certainty for communities and developers;

- Focus council on delivery;- Access more funding and

attract investment;- Manage conflict!

Planning reform

• National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

• Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies local authorities responsible for determining housing numbers

• Localism Act including the Duty to Cooperate

• Neighbourhood planning

NPPF and planning

• The NPPF explicitly states planning’s principal role as being to help achieve sustainable development

• “At the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework is a presumption in favour of sustainable development, which should be seen as a golden thread running through both plan making and decision taking”

Key principles of the NPPF

• Emphasises that sustainable development should be about positive growth – making economic, environmental and social progress for this and future generations

• Emphasises central role of Local Plans in planning system

Key principles of the NPPF

• Local plans should:

“meet objectively assessed needs, with sufficient flexibility to adapt to rapid change”

NPPF

Unless….

• “…any adverse impacts of allowing development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole”

NPPF

Remember – still a presumption in favour of the plan

Implications / risks of not having an up-to-date Local Plan in place

• Difficult to defend inappropriate development

• Priority in favour of ‘sustainable development’

• Increased ‘planning by appeal’ likely

Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS)• Localism Act has removed the regional planning framework

meaning no further RSSs can be created

• “It remains necessary for Local Plans including Core Strategies to be in general conformity with the RS. This was made clear in the Court of Appeal case: Cala Home (South) Ltd v SoS for CLG & ANR (May 2011)”

Rushcliffe Core Strategy, Inspector’s Note (November 2012)

Duty to Cooperate

• Introduced by Localism Act

• New tool for delivering strategic planning at local level

• Requires councils and public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis in relation to planning for strategic issues

Neighbourhood planning

• Localism Act introduced new right for communities to draw up neighbourhood plans

• “Neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the Local Plan. To facilitate this, local planning authorities should set out clearly their strategic policies for the area and ensure that an up-to-date Local Plan is in place as quickly as possible”

NPPF

The role of Elected Members

The role of Members

• You have a vital leadership role to play to produce a robust Local Plan for your area that has buy in from all parties

• Key challenge is to listen to the views and aspirations of your constituents and balance this with the professional advice of your planning staff in order to plan for, and meet, the development needs of your area

The role of Members

• Leadership• Understanding your issues• Setting the vision & objectives• Setting priorities• Making decisions & understanding implications• Agreeing programmes & resources• Engagement / community accountability• Working with other authorities and agencies• Scrutiny and monitoring

Key relationships

• Key relationships:– Leader and Portfolio Holder– Cabinet Members and other Members– Steering Group Members and officers

Discussion: Role of Elected Members

Session 2: Developing a sound plan

Developing a sound plan

Address the key priorities for the areaPlan positivelyDevelop a robust and credible evidence baseCo-operate with neighbouring areasFocus on reasonable alternativesUndertake comprehensive Sustainability AppraisalStakeholder engagementViable and deliverable in practice

Address the key priorities for the area

• Local Plans should “reflect a collective vision and a set of agreed priorities for the sustainable development of the area”

• “Local Plans should be aspirational but realistic”

NPPF

Source: www.landscapeinstitute.org

Useful policies

• “Local Plans should set out the opportunities for development and clear policies on what will or will not be permitted and where. Only policies that provide a clear indication of how a decision maker should react to a development proposal should be included in the plan”

NPPF

Policies should cover…

• “the homes and jobs needed in the area”• “the provision of retail, leisure and other commercial

development”• “the provision of infrastructure”• “the provision of health, security, community and

cultural infrastructure and other local facilities”• “climate change mitigation and adaptation,

conservation and enhancement of the natural and historic environment, including landscape”

NPPF

Plan philosophy

• Local Plans should “plan positively for the development and infrastructure required in the area”

NPPF

Source: www.nottingham.ac.uk/transportissues/

Robust and credible evidence base

• “Each local planning authority should ensure that the Local Plan is based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence about the economic, social and environmental characteristics and prospects of the area”

NPPF

Evidence base (examples)

• Strategic Housing Needs Assessment (SHMA)• Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)• Authority Monitoring Report• Five Year Land Supply Assessment• Affordable Housing Economic Viability Assessment• Employment land review• Transport Assessments• Retail assessment• Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Study• Strategic Flood Risk Assessment• Landscape and Settlement Character Assessment• Green Belt Review

Prioritising evidence gathering

• “Wherever possible the local planning authority should consider how the preparation of any assessment will contribute to the plan’s evidence base”

NPPF

Housing

• “To boost significantly the supply of housing”

NPPF

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Housing evidence – two key components

• Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) - identifies the scale and mix of housing and the range of tenures that the local population is likely to need over the plan period

• Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) – establishes realistic assumptions about the availability, suitability and the likely economic viability of land to meet the identified need for housing over the plan period

The importance of the SHMA

• “The absence of an up to date SHMA is a serious failing and makes a full assessment of need difficult”

East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s report (November 2012)

Understanding need

• New toolkit available:

www.howmanyhomes.org

Meeting housing need

• “LPAs should use their evidence base to ensure that their Local Plan meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market area”

NPPF

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Important to analyse higher growth options

• “The Authority’s assertion that environmental constraints prevent them from meeting the objectively assessed need is not supported by any analysis of the impact of higher levels of growth”

East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s report (November 2012)

Important to analyse options for housing growth

• “I am surprised that the option for growth to the west of the town does not appear to have been considered by the council. I recommend that the council should withdraw its Core Strategy, consider a revised one and examine alternatives for housing growth in both the south and the west of Melton”

Reported closing statement by Inspector at final Melton Borough Council Hearing session

Source: Planning Resource

Dealing with unmet housing need

• The Council should “Consider making provision for an increased number of dwellings and/or set out results of discussions with neighbouring authorities in relation to meeting any unmet need in the District”

East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s

report (November 2012)

Future delivery more important than past build rates• “Past problems over delivery should not be

used to set targets for the future which are significantly below the required level for new housing”

Rushcliffe Core Strategy inspector’s note (November 2012)

Addressing the housing shortfall

• Local planning authorities should “identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5%”

• “Where there has been a record of persistent under delivery of housing, local planning authorities should increase the buffer to 20%”

NPPF

Housing need - experience post NPPF“…far from Councils having successfully reduced their housing targets as a result of Localism, the first 12 months of the NPPF show the vast majority of ‘sound’ Local Plans with housing targets at least at the level proposed by the RS.”

NLP (March 2013)

SHLAA• The SHLAA should be the key

document to demonstrate the deliverability of the housing strategy in the plan, it should:

– Identify the availability of sites with potential for housing

– Assess their suitability for housing

– Assess likely economic viability of land to meet identified housing need

Green belt reviews

Source: Savills

“Local planning authorities with Green Belts in their area should establish Green Belt boundaries in their Local Plans which set the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy. Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, through the preparation or review of the Local Plan. At that time, authorities should consider the Green Belt boundaries having regard to their intended permanence in the long term, so that they should be capable of enduring beyond the plan period.” NPPF

Local Authorities in the south of England who are contemplating green belt review

Reasonable alternatives

• “Where an environmental assessment is required… an environmental report shall be prepared in which the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing the plan or programme, and reasonable alternatives taking into account the objectives and the geographical scope of the plan or programme, are identified, described and evaluated…”

SEA Directive, Article 5(1)

Reasonable alternatives

Reasonable alternatives

• In March 2011, the UK High Court ruled that part of the Forest Heath District Core Strategy must be quashed because the Environmental Report failed to present… “an accurate picture of what reasonable alternatives there are and why they are not considered to be the best option”…in relation to an urban extension to the district’s main town

Save Historic Newmarket Ltd v. Forest Heath District Council [2011] EWHC 606, a challenge under s.113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to the

adopted Forest Heath Core Strategy

Sustainability Appraisal

• How sustainable is our plan?

• Undertake SA at key stages in the plan-making process

Sustainability Appraisal

Sustainable development objectives

Option A: Locate the majority of new development in Settlement X

Option B: Locate half of new development in an urban extension to Settlement Y and distribute the remainder between Settlements X and Z

Option C: Locate the majority of development in Settlements Y and Z and provide for considerably higher densities in Y

Objective 1 – provide housing to meet local need

Because…

Objective 2 – protect and enhance biodiversity

XX X

Conclusions - Including the relative significance of the impacts, any assumptions made in undertaking the assessment, different impact dimensions, potential mitigation and monitoring measures

Exercise: Identifying the key challenges

to adopting a sound Local Plan

Lunch

Session 3: The Duty to Cooperate

Duty to Cooperate

• New legal requirement under the Localism Act

• Designed to promote a culture change and spirit of partnership working on strategic cross boundary issues

• “Strategic planning in the context of localism”

What does the Duty mean for LPAs?

• “Working collaboratively with other bodies to ensure that strategic priorities across local authority boundaries are properly coordinated and clearly reflected in individual Local Plans”

NPPF

Complying with the Duty

• “The Government expects joint working on areas of common interest to be diligently undertaken for the mutual benefit of neighbouring authorities”

NPPF• “Cooperation should be a continuous process of

engagement from initial thinking through to implementation, resulting in a final position where plans are in place to provide the land and infrastructure necessary to support current and projected future levels of development”

NPPF

Duty to Cooperate – two aspects

• Legal requirement to co-operate under section 33A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as inserted by section 110 of the Localism Act 2011)

• ‘Process’

• Policy tests set out in paragraphs 178-181 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

• ‘Outcome’

• It is possible for a plan to pass the process test but fail the more challenging outcome test

Collaborative working

Evidence of engagement

• Examples:- Plans/policies prepared by a joint committee - Memorandum of understanding- Jointly prepared strategy presented as evidence of an

agreed position (e.g. South Hampshire Strategy)- Representations from adjoining LPAs etc.- Statement of Common Ground / compliance- Shared evidence base

Not complying with the Duty (1)

• “I am not satisfied, however, that it would be consistent with national policy for Rushcliffe to plan in isolation… Given the Framework’s emphasis on planning strategically across local boundaries, the issue – should Rushcliffe help to meet the needs of Nottingham City? – is not one that the Core Strategy can side-step”

Rushcliffe Core Strategy inspector’s note (November 2012)

Not complying with the Duty (2)

• “I conclude that the Plan does not meet the legal requirements of the 2004 Act in that the Council has not engaged constructively with neighbouring local planning authorities on the strategic matter of the number of houses proposed in the Plan…”

Letter from the Planning Inspector to Coventry City Council (27 February 2013)

Exercise: Complying with the DtC

Session 4: The role of viability in plan-

making

Viability and deliverability

• “Pursuing sustainable development requires careful attention to viability and costs in plan-making and decision-taking. Plans should be deliverable.”

NPPF

Ensuring viability and deliverability

• For plan-making, this means:

Ensuring that the cumulative impact of local standards and policies - when added to nationally required standards - does not put implementation of plan at risk

Whole Plan Viability

Source: ‘Viability Testing Local Plans: advice for planning practitioners’, Local Housing Delivery Group

Wish list of discretionary policies

The Residual Valuation based approachStep 1:

Gross Development Value(The combined value of the complete development)

 LESS

 Cost of creating the asset, including a profit margin

(Construction + fees + finance charges + Developer’s Profit, CIL, s106, CfSH etc.) = 

RESIDUAL VALUE 

Step 2:For a site to be viable, by how much must the Residual Value exceed the Existing/Alternative Use

Value? This is a professional judgment for the LPA (and their consultants) to make!

Compare the Residual Value to the Existing Use Value + a premium i.e. the assumed Threshold Land Value (the point at which the landowner is likely to sell the land)

Does the scheme provide a ‘competitive return’ to the developer and landowner?

Gross Development ValueAll income from a Scheme

Construction Site Remediation

AbnormalsS106Etc.

FeesDesign

EngineerSalesEtc.

ProfitLandownerDevelopers

Builders

LandExisting /

Alternative Use Value+ premium

(TLV/EUV+)

Policies/CILCIL, affordable housing, CfSH, open space etc.

The GDV is set by the market and cannot be changed

Viable/Unviable?

Source: ‘Financial Viability in Planning’, RICS

Session 5: Programme management and

what your plan should look like

Developing a Project Plan

• Effective project planning is critical to delivery of robust Local Plan

• A good project plan should identify:- Key stages- Actions- Roles & Responsibilities- Indicative timetable- Resources- Costs

Stakeholder engagement

• Requirement of planning legislation

• Helps to create more realistic & deliverable plans

• Views & knowledge of community form an important part of the Local Plan evidence base

Benefits of engagement

• Address conflicts early on

• Build wider sense of plan ownership

• Local people = local area experts

Benefits of engagement

“A lot of people object to new development because they assume that the outcome will be buildings that are at best characterless, cheap in everything except price".

Policy Exchange

Who to engage?

• Neighbouring Planning Authorities: DtC• Regulatory agencies: The Environment Agency, English

Heritage, Natural England• Physical infrastructure delivery agencies: highways

authority, Highways Agency, utilities companies, Network Rail, public transport providers, airport operators

• Social infrastructure delivery agencies: local authority education dept, social services, primary care trust, strategic health authority, the Police, charities/NGOs

• Major landowners including the local authority itself and government departments and agencies

• Housebuilders and other developers• Minerals and waste management industries

How to engage?

• Early and continuous engagement

• Understand the organisation

• Identify responsible individuals

• Invest in creating partnerships

• Find out what others feel the Local Plan can do for them

• Use interactive sessions

Engagement challenges

• Ensuring early and constructive engagement with neighbouring authorities

• Engaging communities and developers on strategic issues

• Ensuring agencies will deliver

• Involving ‘hard to reach’ groups

• Balancing ‘breadth’ and ‘depth’ of engagement

• Making best use of resources

The Local Plan

Local Plan

Supplementary Planning

Documents

Annual Monitoring Report

Proposals MapSite Specific AllocationsCore Strategy

Local Development Scheme

Statement of Community

Involvement

Area Action PlansSustainability

Appraisal

What should the plan contain?

Vision

Strategic objectives

Delivery Strategy

Managing and monitoring

How much development should there be?

Where should development go?

When should development happen?

By what means will the development be delivered?

What should the plan look like?

- Aspirational but realistic

- Address the spatial implications of economic, social and environmental change

- Set out the opportunities for development

- Contain clear policies on what will or will not be permitted and where

Session 6: The examination process

Examination

• “The Local Plan will be examined by an independent inspector whose role is to assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with the Duty to Cooperate, legal and procedural requirements, and whether it is sound”

NPPF

NPPF Soundness Test

• Evidence demonstrating your plan is:- Positively prepared - based on a strategy that seeks to

meet needs and requirements of neighbouring LPAs- Justified - most appropriate strategy, when considered

against reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence

- Effective - deliverable over its period and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic priorities

- Consistent with the NPPF - enable the delivery of sustainable development

Questions and discussion