B US I NE S S BOF F I N
Opportunity to comment on county’s future planning policy
As we come to the end of another year, in the ever-evolving world of planning, I thought it would be a good idea to provide an update on the latest planning policy position in Gloucestershire, writes Liz Shield of SF Planning Ltd. Despite only being adopted in December 2017, the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) is already in the process of being reviewed by the JCS authorities (Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury councils). This is partially due to a requirement in the adopted JCS to immediately review housing supply in Gloucester and Tewkesbury (as well as retail/ town centre policies) and partially due to the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) adopted in July 2018. The review also considers strategic housing/ employment options, including a masterplan for 8,000 homes and 120ha of employment land at Ashchurch.The public consultation on the JCS Issues & Options document is open until 11th January 2019 and the next stage of consultation on the proposed draft plan is due to open in autumn 2019. The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) comes into force in the JCS authorities on 1st January 2019. Any qualifying planning decision made after this date will therefore be CIL liable. The Cotswold District Local Plan (2011-2031) was formally adopted in August 2018, the most recent in Gloucestershire. Cheltenham is the most advanced of the JCS authorities in the preparation of its local plan, having submitted the Cheltenham Plan to the Secretary of State for examination in October 2018. It is anticipated that the examination hearings will commence in February/ March 2019. In Gloucester, as with Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, its own local plan was put on hold pending the adoption of the JCS. However, unlike Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, Gloucester has not undertaken any further public
consultation on the Draft Gloucester City Plan since January/ February 2017. Consultation on the pre- submission version of the Gloucester City Plan will be the next step, although the timing of this is unclear at the present time. Forest of Dean adopted its Local Plan back in February 2012. The Allocations Plan (2006-2026), which sits alongside the Local Plan, was finally adopted in June 2018, after a considerable period of examination. The Allocations Plan was initially submitted to the Secretary of State in August 2015. Due to the age of the Local Plan, Forest of Dean is in the very early stages of preparing its new Local Plan, dubbed “Plan 41”. Formal public consultation on which is scheduled to commence in summer/ autumn 2019. Stroud adopted its current Local Plan in November 2015. It is now part way through its Local Plan Review, which will culminate in a new Local Plan being submitted to the Secretary of State in autumn/ winter 2020. The current stage of public consultation relates to the Emerging Strategy and the period for comment runs until 16th January 2019. Tewkesbury recently consulted on the Tewkesbury Borough Plan – Preferred Options, and this finished in November 2018. The next step in public consultation will be the pre-submission version of the Borough Plan, which is anticipated to be in spring 2019. As you can see, there are a number of existing and forthcoming opportunities to comment on the future of planning policy in Gloucestershire. I would urge everyone to take the opportunity to make representations to these consultations, as the content will impact everyone in some way l For more information on any aspect of the planning process, contact Liz Shield at SF Planning Ltd.
Telephone – 01452 527997 Email – liz@sfplanning.co.uk www.sfplanning.co.uk Twitter – @SFPlanningLtd
96 | December 2018 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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