Issue details - Proposed Submission (Publication) of Torbay Local Plan

Proposed Submission (Publication) of Torbay Local Plan

The new Torbay Local Plan (‘A landscape for Success – The Plan for Torbay to 2032 and beyond’) is the Council’s key development plan document. It will eventually replace the ‘Saved’ Adopted Torbay Local Plan 1995 – 2011 and will form the basis for decisions on spatial planning matters within Torbay up until 2032 and beyond. The Plan sets out the preferred approach to change and growth in the Bay, through a Constrained Balanced Strategy, which will be delivered by meeting the Plan’s key aspirations and related objectives.

The Plan sets out broad development provision and targets for development in Torbay, including housing and jobs, and identifies strategic site allocations and major growth areas. It has been informed by the community and in turn sets a planning policy framework for the three neighbourhood Plans being prepared for Torbay. The Plan therefore provides the basis for consideration of planning applications for the development, use and conservation of land in Torbay and includes a wide range of policies covering key spatial planning issues.

Following consultation on an earlier Draft Torbay Local Plan Consultation Draft in September 2012, the Council is now being asked to agree the final version of the Plan for formal Publication and Submission to the Planning Inspectorate for Independent Examination.

Decision type: Key

Reason Key: Policy Framework;

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Wards affected: (All Wards);

Decision due: 15 May 2013 by Council

Lead member: Deputy Mayor Executive Lead for Strategic Planning, Housing, Energy and Environmental Policy

Lead director: Charles Uzzell

Contact: Les Crump, Executive Head of Spatial Planning Email: les.crump@torbay.gov.uk.

Consultation process

The preparation of local plans is a statutory process and consultation requirements are prescribed in ‘The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012’, in the context of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Localism Act 2011. A variety of methods of public participation and engagement are used, according to the stage reached in Plan preparation. A Consultation and Engagement Strategy is produced at each stage and is usually held over a period of six weeks. It involves widespread use of the press and other local media, websites, community liaison, posters, email and paper correspondence. Council Offices, Libraries and Connections Offices are used to display Local Plan reference documents.

The impending stage [Proposed Submission (Publication) of Torbay Local Plan] is expected to be launched via a formal Public Notice in the local newspaper, dedicated space on the Council’s website and a press release.

Consultees

Plan preparation involves consultation and engagement with a very large number and range of individuals and organisations, details of which are retained in the Local Plan Database. This includes residents, Neighbourhood Forums and Community Partnerships, amenity organisations, statutory bodies, businesses, planning consultants and developers. All Ward Councillors are consultees and closely involved in the evolution of the Local Plan.

Reason for inclusion in Forward Plan: The timely approval of the proposed Submission Version will ensure that change and conservation of resources in Torbay takes place on a ‘Plan-led’ basis as soon as possible. The policies and proposals of the Plan have been the subject of extensive public consultation and engagement, which has provided the community with the opportunity to influence its outcome to the benefit of local neighbourhoods. This opportunity is heightened by the close link between the Local Plan and Torbay’s three Neighbourhood Plans, which are required to be consistent with the Local Plan. Preparation of the Local Plan in parallel with Neighbourhood Plans will enable both types of Plan to be mutually compatible, empowering communities to influence decisions at a local level, for example through the identification of sites for development.

Key Risks: Preparation of the emerging Torbay Local Plan is a corporate priority. The key aim of the Plan is to provide a clear direction for the way in which Torbay will grow in a sustainable way over the next twenty years or so. Failure to progress the preparation of the Local Plan to formal Adoption would result in a very high risk of ad hoc speculative development taking place in an uncoordinated way and in unsustainable locations. This is particularly relevant in the context of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which emphasises the need to produce up-to-date local plans and sets out the risks to local planning authorities that fail to pursue this approach. Failure to continue to support work on the Local Plan would also result in a lost opportunity to secure community gains for local areas, remove the potential benefits to be derived from ‘parallel tracking’ with the three Neighbourhood Plans, and lead in turn to a loss of confidence within the community.

If you want to make representations contact:: Steve Turner, telephone (01803) 208812, email steve.turner@torbay.gov.uk, postal address Torbay Council, Electric House (2nd Floor), Castle Circus, Torquay TQ1 3DR

Agenda items

15/05/2013 - Council A Landscape for Success - the new Local Plan for Torbay 15/05/2013