Local Plans
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a local planning authority is required to maintain a site allocation in its emerging Local Plan notwithstanding the refusal of a speculative planning application on that site; and what recourse is available to local authorities in areas with an emerging Local Plan who face speculative applications during the Examination in Public period.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
Local planning authorities are responsible for preparing local plans and for identifying sites in their plans to guide development to the most suitable locations, supported by the right infrastructure. They can only adopt plans that are found sound by an independent Inspector through the public examination process, and it is for the relevant Inspector to assess any proposed site allocations in a plan being examined.
Emerging plans and associated evidence may be attributed weight in planning decisions before they are adopted. Local planning authorities may give weight to relevant policies in emerging plans according to: the stage of preparation; the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies; and the degree of consistency of the relevant policies in the emerging plan to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Having an up-to-date local plan is the most effective protection against speculative development. This government has been clear that we expect all local planning authorities to make every effort to get up-to-date plans in place as soon as possible.
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