To update Members on progress and proposed changes to the timetable for finalising the Local Development Framework Core Strategy and the implications and options for the Local Transport Plan.

Cabinet:

With regard to the Local Development Framework (LDF) and planning matters:

          (a)          noteed the summary of the results of the Revised Preferred Option consultation undertaken between September and November 2011;

(b)             agreed that a further round of consultation be undertaken on the Core Strategy, on the basis of a full draft document, evidence base and Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment which demonstrates that the plan will not adversely affect the integrity of relevant European sites;

(c)             endorsed that, subject to outstanding issues being resolved, the proposed scale and distribution of development and strategic housing, employment and infrastructure proposals, as set out in paragraph 49, form the basis of the draft Core Strategy;

(d)             endorsed the approach to prepare the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule in parallel with the preparation of the Core Strategy with a joint Examination in Public;

(e)             agreed an interim protocol to be taken into account in determining planning applications for new housing proposals in the absence of a demonstrable five-year housing supply; and

(f)              agreed the amended timetable for the preparation of the Core Strategy.

With regard to the Local Transport Plan (LTP):

(g)             agreed that a Local Transport Plan (LTP) covering the period to 2014/15 is developed and adopted in advance of the final consideration of the LDF Core Strategy;

(h)             noted the proposed timetable for adopting the LTP and the summary of what that Plan will include; and

(i)               noted the key ongoing linkages between the LTP and LDF and proposals to prepare and adopt an LTP to cover the period from 2015 to 2031 in association with the revised timetable for the Core Strategy.

1             To ensure the Cabinet is fully updated in respect of the results of the most recent LDF consultation, acknowledge the outstanding challenges to plan progress and the need for further consultation; and

2             To mitigate the impact of delaying the adoption of the Core Strategy upon the LTP.

1         There are no alternatives to preparing the LDF and LTP.  In respect of advancing the LDF without resolution of outstanding matters and further consultation as now proposed the document will not survive Examination and any subsequent challenge. 

2         Continuing with LTP2 as an interim transport strategy would mean reliance on an increasingly out of date programme and set of policies.