Local Plans: Basildon
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department assessed the potential merits of deferring intervention in Basildon Borough Council's Local Plan until the newly elected councillors and administration had had an opportunity to review the draft plan inherited from the previous administration.
Answered by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The decision to intervene in respect of the emerging Basildon Local Plan was made on 21 July 2026 and was based on assessments made against the statutory test and relevant intervention criteria, as outlined in the intervention letter which can be found on gov.uk here.
Basildon Borough Council (the Council) was given an opportunity to set out by 4 August 2026 any exceptional circumstances which in their view suggested that intervention is not appropriate.
The Council was directed to submit the emerging plan by the 31 December 2026 deadline for legacy plans.
The intervention letter makes clear that after full consideration of representations received at the Regulation 19 consultation, should significant modifications be required, these should be set out to the Secretary of State.
The Council is required to report monthly to my Department on the progress made against the directions and will be monitored against the milestones outlined in the updated Local Development Scheme (LDS).
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