Comment
West Berkshire – keep on (local) planning!
In December 2022, West Berkshire Councillors voted to move their Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) Local Plan Review (‘LPR’) 2022-2039 to consultation. However, within days of the subsequent consultation due to end today, 3 March 2023, the same councillors at an Extraordinary Meeting last night (2 March 2023) almost halted progress as a result of ‘several major flaws’[1] being identified in an opposition motion.
Background and context
The emerging draft version of the LPR was last consulted on back in December 2020. Following this Regulation 18 consultation, the main changes to the LPR were finally presented to full council in December 2022. The motion to undertake a further public consultation (Regulation 19) was resolved.
The subsequent Regulation 19 consultation began on 20 January 2023 for six weeks finishing today, 3 March 2023[2]. Twelve days into the consultation, a requisition signed by the opposition party in the council (the Liberal Democrats) to abandon the Regulation 19 consultation was produced.
An Extraordinary Council Meeting was therefore set up for 2 March 2023.
Outcome of last night’s Extraordinary Meeting
Agenda Item 3 recommended that the council ‘abandon the consultation on the Local Plan which commenced on 20 January 2023, so that all relevant issues can be rectified and/or clarified and thereby avoid the risk of the Local Plan Review submission being dismissed as unsound by the Inspector on the basis of a defective Regulation 19 Consultation: and 2) undertake a new Regulation 19 Consultation in the future once these omissions and errors have been rectified’[1].
Issues raised in the Agenda (available here) largely surround housing numbers for northeast Thatcham, and the impact that 1,500 homes could have on Thatcham within the Plan period. Whilst the number of houses proposed at northeast Thatcham has been reduced from the original 2,500, ‘the Regulation 18 Consultation envisaged that only 1,250 dwellings would be built in the the plan period, and this has increased to 1,500’. Members observed that ‘the Settlement Boundary background paper shows the Thatcham settlement boundary already extended to the line needed for the original 2,500 houses, yet the plan now refers to a minimum of 1,500 houses – this could be read that 2,500 dwellings is still suitable and can be developed within the extended boundary’[1].
Outside of northeast Thatcham, the opposition motion also highlighted that the HELAA, published the day the Regulation 19 consultation started, included ‘a large number of sites that have been added since the last update, and which have been rejected. Therefore, councillors could not have been aware of this when they approved the Reg 19 document with its list of sites’[1].
Finally, members pointed to the recent Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement (‘WMS’) of 6 December 2022 ‘which removed the need to maintain a 5-year housing supply for Local Authorities with up to-date Local Plans, removed top-down housing targets (particularly for Local Authorities with constraints like AONBs etc.) and gave a two-year transition period for LAs in the final stages of preparing Local Plans and this statement should be taken into account by council’[1].
The opposition motion, proposed by Cllr Dillon and seconded by Cllr Vickers, was not supported by the administration and the council consequently resolved to continue the Regulation 19 Consultation. In a somewhat rare occurrence in recent months, the council did not ultimately use the WMS to justify delay.
What is included?
In effect, this new plan seeks to carry over a significant number of existing allocations within the Council’s Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) (July 2012) and the subsequent Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) (May 2017).
In addition to the proposals at Thatcham, just a few hundred additional homes are proposed to be allocated in the new Local Plan. The deliverability, or otherwise, of these retained allocations will no doubt be tested at Examination. Similarly, the council’s failure to identify sufficient land to meet its recognised employment need will also be closely scrutinised.
A political tool?
At present, West Berkshire Council is a Conservative run authority consisting of 24 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats and 3 Green Party Councillors[3]. Of the four Thatcham wards, where most of the issues raised in the agenda relate to the level of housing proposed in northeast Thatcham, three of these are represented by the Liberal Democrats.
With local elections in West Berkshire around the corner on 4 May, it could be suggested that last night was an attempt by the Liberal Democrats at a quick win to garner support.
As such, it may be that the Liberal Democrats start to use the issues within the Regulation 19 Consultation surrounding northeast Thatcham, and the level of housing proposed here, as a political campaign tool to seek to gain election votes and weaken the Conservative majority of five. Once the elections in May are over, we will have a better idea of who will have the majority and if the administration is no longer a Conservative majority there could be a knock-on effect on the LPR.
Outside of the LPR, as we move further into the pre-election period, we can expect candidates (in all parties) to start using proposed development as part of their campaigning either to oppose controversial schemes; or in rare cases, use proposed popular schemes for votes. It is also worth mentioning that once the election has been undertaken a reshuffle of committee membership could be likely, which could have implications for applications that head to planning committee to be determined.
For more information on the West Berkshire Local Plan Review and what it might mean for development opportunities in the district, please contact Tim Burden or Emma Sibley.
3 March 2023
[1] Extraordinary Meeting of West Berkshire District Council Summons and Agenda, page 9.
[2] The Local Plan Review (LPR) - West Berkshire Council
[3] Your District: Facts and Figures - West Berkshire Council