Local Development Framework - Core Strategy
Role of Core Strategy
The Core Strategy will set out the Council’s vision, objectives
and overall strategy for the future development of the Borough.
All other
DPD
s in
the
LDF
will need
to conform to the Core Strategy. When the Core Strategy and
Allocations
DPD
are
adopted they will replace the
UDP
. The role of the Core
Strategy is to:
- Give more detailed spatial guidance on the level and broad
location of development, the identification of strategic sites and
their relationship with transport and other infrastructure;
- Be integrated with other strategies of the Council, its
partners, other organisations and neighbouring authorities;
and
- Provide a more robust framework for the physical regeneration
of the Borough.
The Allocations
DPD
will provide detailed site
allocations boundaries and policies. In the preparation of the Core
Strategy the following stages have taken place:
Current stage of Core Strategy
Withdrawal of the Core Strategy Stage - 2012
Following Council approval to withdraw the Core Strategy on the
18 April 2012 a letter was sent to the Secretary
of State seeking a formal direction to withdraw the Core Strategy.
A letter dated 9 May 2012 was received from DCLG
stating that under the provisions of the Localism Act a formal
direction was not required and the Council can therefore withdraw
the Core Strategy. The letter seeking the withdrawal of the Core
Strategy and the response from DCLG can be seen below.
Letter to the Secretary of State seeking to withdraw the Core
Strategy, April 2012 (48kb pdf file);
Letter from the Secretary of State to withdraw the Core Strategy,
May 2012 (56kb pdf file)
The documents that formed the previous submission (including the
draft Publication Core Strategy, November 2010 and all subsequent
documents) no longer form part of the formal Core Strategy process
and therefore they have been removed from the website.
However, in order to explain the process to date a description
of all the relevant stages is included below. Documents relating to
these stages can be made available on request including the Draft
Publication Core although clearly this version of the Core Strategy
and its supporting documents have no weight in dealing with
planning decisions or applications.
If you require any clarification regarding the Withdrawal of the
Core Strategy please contact Strategic Planning on 01706
924373.
The intention is to produce a revised Draft Core Strategy for
consultation later in the summer. This consultation will
encourage comments on all
aspects of the Draft Core Strategy and enable us to
make any necessary changes before producing a final Publication
version Core Strategy.
The current timetable is to make a final Publication Core
Strategy available for further consultation later in the year at
which stage comments will be sought strictly on matters of
'soundness' and 'legal compliance' only.
Previous stages of the Core Strategy
Issues and Options Report Stage - 2008
We consulted on the Issues and Options report and other
documents, along with a call for possible development sites, in
late 2008. The report set out what we thought the key issues are in
planning the future of the borough and the options for tackling
those issues. It outlined six spatial options on where new
development could be focused. It offered choices on what and how
much development is needed, and where it could go.
To read the Issues and Options report and other documents, the
comments that were made and our response to those comments, please
use the link below (please note that you do not need to register to
view the documents):
Preferred Options Report Stage - 2009
We considered your views and suggestions from the Issues and Options
Report consultation, and took account of new information, in
preparing our Preferred Options Report. We called these Preferred
Options because we wanted to give you the opportunity to tell us
what you thought of them.
We carried out a public consultation on the Preferred Options
Report between 2 November 2009 and 29 January
2010. We then produced a document that listed all the
representations received and provided our response to the points
made.
To read the Preferred Options report and other documents, please
use the link below (please note that you do not need to register to
view the documents):
Publication Draft Stage - 2010
The Publication Draft Core Strategy was the version of the
Core Strategy that we intended to submit to the government for
approval, and was subject to a formal 6 week public
consultation.
In preparing this document we took into account all the
representations we received on the Preferred Options
Report. We carried out further studies to support proposals and
to answer objections and tried to make the document clearer
and to ensure it is fully consistent with government policy.
The new government announced intended changes to the planning
system that had a direct impact on our work on the Core
Strategy. The most important of these was the revocation of
Regional Spatial Strategies, with their proposed eventual
abolition. The RSS for the North West has provided strategic
policies and target figures for employment and housing development
in the borough. Because of this we reviewed and amended our
proposed strategy to ensure that it is still sound in this new
policy context.
We carried out our formal 6 week public consultation from
8 November 2010 to 23 December 2010. We also
published a report with our responses to the points you made on the
Preferred Options and provided other documents and evidence
that supports our proposed strategy.
Submission Stage - 2011
The Core Strategy was submitted to the Secretary of State
on 31 March 2011. Other relevant documents
submitted alongside the Core Strategy
(Publication Draft) included:
- Core Strategy Submission statement of consultation;
- Schedule of changes to the Core Strategy Publication Draft and
accompanying documents;
- Main issues raised at Publication Stage and schedule of
responses;
- Responses made on Publication Draft Core Strategy (Database
report);
- Explanation of categories within the submission database;
- Evidence base informing the production of the Core
Strategy;
- Submission document - Conformity with Town and Country Planning
regulation 2008; and
- Statement of availability of the Submission document.
Examination in Public Stage - 2011
Following on from the Submission Stage of
the Core Strategy to the Secretary of State on 31 March
2011, the next stage was the Examination in
Public.
An Inspector undertook an Exploratory Meeting to explore a
number of his concerns relating to the soundness of the document
on 27 July 2011. Following this
the Council requested a suspension of the Examination process
for a period of six months to allow time to review the
evidence base.
Following independent advice, officers concluded that the
best course of action was to withdraw the Core Strategy completely
and to draw up a new one as a matter of urgency.
The formal decision to withdraw was made by the
Cabinet on the 29 March 2012 followed by full
Council on the 18 April 2012.