Changes to parts of the Local Plan, which sets out the basis for decision making on development and the use of land across the district, are being consulted on by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The draft Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU) updates parts of B&NES Council’s current Local Plan, which runs until 2029, to better address critical issues and help deliver the council’s priorities, including addressing the climate and ecological emergencies and maintaining control over the future supply of new homes.
Saltford Parish Council will have consideration of the consultation as an item on its agenda at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday 4 October (details will be made available on its Meetings – Agendas and Minutes page nearer the time).
Residents can take part in the consultation on the B&NES Council website here: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/local-plan-partial-update-consultation
Saltford Parish Council responded in October 2021 to proposed changes to the Local Plan, please find its news article here including a link to the Parish Council’s full response.
In May 2022, the Parish Council added a Hearing Statement (additional written comments) for the examination of the Local Plan by the Planning Inspector. For details please see SPC’s news article. A full copy of SPC’s Hearing Statement to the examination can be found here.
The draft LPPU has been through public engagement and consultation and has been examined by a planning inspector. B&NES Council state that the inspector’s initial feedback on the draft LPPU was positive and his recommended changes, known as main modifications, are now subject to public consultation. It is the changes to the draft LPPU that people are being asked to comment on.
The main modifications that have been suggested by the planning inspector are needed to make the LPPU sound (the government sets out the tests of soundness against which Local Plans are judged) and allow it to be adopted.
The decision to agree that the main modifications go out to public consultation should have been considered by Bath and North East Somerset Council at a meeting on 15 September. That meeting was cancelled and given the time critical nature, the decision was delegated and approved by Sophie Broadfield, Director of sustainable Communities, in consultation with Group Leaders and the Chair of the Council.
Following the consultation, all the comments will be considered by the inspector and, if he finds the draft LPPU sound, his final report and the LPPU (including the modifications) will be considered for adoption by the council.
The consultation started on 21 September and will run for six weeks. It will close on 2 November 2022. It is part of a period of ongoing engagement with communities, partners and stakeholders which will continue until autumn 2023.
You can find more information on the Local Plan and Local Plan Partial Update on the council’s website.