Next stage of Shropshire’s local plan to be considered by Cabinet on 20 July

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will next month (20 July 2020) be asked to approve the latest – ‘pre-submission’ – version of the council’s new local plan, and agree that it goes out to consultation this summer.

The council is undertaking a partial review of the local plan for the period 2016 to 2038.

The plan will support a range of key policies and opportunities for Shropshire including climate change, housing and economic growth.

Four rounds of consultation have been carried out since 2017, with the most recent considering strategic development sites.

This latest version of the plan was originally scheduled to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 July. However, it was felt that the importance of, and interest in, this issue meant that a meeting dedicated to this one item would be more appropriate.

In addition, the additional two weeks will enable the council to agree and confirm arrangements for the consultation – something that is needed as COVID-19 restrictions have meant that it has not yet been possible to agree use of all the public buildings it is hoped to use.

The planned consultation won’t be delayed and is set to begin at the end of July as planned.

Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for housing and strategic planning, said:

“We’re aware that the local plan review is of importance for the whole of Shropshire and that there is significant interest in the next phase of consultation. We feel it is best to hold a standalone meeting dedicated to the local plan, to allow us to give it the attention it deserves, and to give interested parties an opportunity to express their views.

“The meeting will also allow us to bring forward our confirmed plan for public consultation and whilst we would encourage people to take part online, we will be detailing the other arrangements that will be in place.

“This pre-submission version of the plan will be subject to eight weeks of consultation from late July, when we will invite people to submit their comments about the ‘soundness’ of the plan, before we move to the next stage.

“The plan will support our key policies on important issues like affordable housing, climate change and economic growth. The draft of the plan sets out how the needs and aspirations of our county can be supported in the long-term. ”

The pre-submission version of the local plan is the culmination of four previous stages of consultation: issues and options (2017); preferred scale and distribution of growth (2017); preferred site options (2018/19); and strategic sites (2019).

If approved by Cabinet the pre-submission version of the plan will be subject to consultation over the summer for eight weeks, and will then be submitted to Government for examination in January 2021, subject to Full Council approval later this year.

Further information

The Local Plan Review

Shropshire Council is undertaking a partial review of the local plan for the period 2016 to 2038.

The review includes consideration of housing requirements (including objectively assessed need)including affordable housing provision, employment land requirements, the distribution of development and a review of green belt boundaries, as part of the consideration of strategic options to deliver new development.

The purpose of the review is to update certain elements of the plan, and to ensure that we can respond flexibly to changing circumstances in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Strategic sites are large sites of more than 25ha in size, which are not associated with meeting the growth needs of any particular settlement but which will contribute to achieving the aspirations of the Economic Growth Strategy for Shropshire.

Key dates
• Cabinet – 20 July 2020
• Consultation for at least eight weeks: July – September 2020
• Opportunity for Council to make minor changes to plan: September – December 2020
• Full Council decision to submit the Plan to Government for Examination: December 2020
• Submission and examination: January to December 2021
• Adoption: early 2022