Latest version of new Shropshire Local Plan to be considered by Cabinet on 20 July
Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will this month (Monday 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. Four rounds of consultation have been carried out since 2017, with the most recent considering strategic development sites.
At their meeting on 20 July Cabinet will also be asked to agree that proposed development near to Junction 3 of the M54 is not included in the Plan as a strategic site.
Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for housing and strategic planning, said:
“Shropshire Council is aware that the Local Plan review is of importance for the whole of Shropshire, and has taken the necessary time to enable the council to come forward with a full plan for public consultation that is reflective of the needs and aspirations of the county.
“The public now have their chance to comment on the whole of the draft plan, which includes how we will continue to meet our current needs as well as the needs of future generations of residents and businesses. We have included a range of new and updated policies designed to push up the standards and design quality of developments, whilst tackling wider issues and aspirations like climate change and economic development.
“An item of note is that the draft plan does not include the proposed development near to Junction 3 of the M54, but seeks to meet Shropshire’s needs and any needs under our duty to co-operate in a way that is right for our county within the identified sites in this draft plan.
“This pre-submission version of the plan will be subject to eight weeks of consultation, when we will invite people to submit their comments about the ‘soundness’ of the plan, before we move to the next stage.”
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); Strategic Sites (2019).
If approved, the Pre-Submission version of the plan will be subject to consultation over summer for eight weeks, then submitted to the Government for examination in January 2021, subject to Full Council approval.
As part of the Local Plan review, a consultation into strategic development sites was carried out in summer 2019. The consultation proposed sites at the former Ironbridge Power Station, Buildwas; Clive Barracks at Tern Hill; and RAF Cosford, but proposals for a strategic employment site, housing and related community services north of Junction 3 of the M54 weren’t supported as a preferred development site.
The report and the plan will be published here.
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), 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 – 3 August to 30 September 2020
- Opportunity for council to make minor changes to plan – September to December 2020
- Full Council decision to submit the plan to the Government for examination – December 2020
- Submission and Examination – January 2021 to December 2021
- Adoption – early 2022.
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