Issue - meetings

To consider the recommendations of the Cabinet member for planning on the adoption of Part 1 of the Vale Local Plan: 2031.  

At its meeting on 2 December 2016 Cabinet welcomed the receipt of the inspector’s letter confirming that the council could proceed to adopt Local Plan Part 1. Cabinet noted that the Cabinet member for planning would take an individual Cabinet member decision in the week commencing 5 December 2016 to recommend full Council to adopt Local Plan Part 1 at its meeting on 14 December 2016. The recommendations will be circulated to all councillors prior to the Council meeting.

Papers relating to this item can be found on the council’s website here.   

On 9 December 2016 the Cabinet member for planning took an individual Cabinet member decision to recommend Council to adopt Local Plan Part 1. 

A majority of councillors welcomed the adoption of Part 1 of the Vale Local Plan: 2031.  The adoption of the Plan would ensure the council has much greater control over all development in the district to control where housing is delivered and make it easier to secure the much needed infrastructure funding.

However, a number of councillors, whilst welcoming the adoption of the Plan to control housing development and reduce the number of speculative planning applications, expressed the view that the housing targets in the Plan were unrealistic, that the proposed level of housing development would put pressure on infrastructure in the district and that the Plan did not provide adequate protection for the green belt.

The chairman called for a recorded vote on the motion which was carried with the votes recorded as follows:

RESOLVED: to

1.         adopt the Vale of White Horse Local Plan 2031: Part 1; and

2.         authorise the head of planning to correct any minor, typographical and grammatical errors prior to publication. 

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet received a verbal update regarding the receipt of the local plan inspector’s letter, which confirmed that the council’s Local Plan Part 1 was sound and that it was now for the council to adopt Part 1 at its discretion.  In order to recommend adoption, the officers needed to prepare the paperwork to comply with the planning regulations before an executive recommendation could be made to full Council on 14 December 2016.  Cabinet welcomed the news and supported the Cabinet member for planning taking an individual Cabinet member decision in the following week to make the formal recommendation to Council to adopt Local Plan Part 1. 

Cabinet noted that although the council did not have a five-year housing land supply until Local Plan Part 1 was adopted by Council, the plan and its policies now carried substantial weight.  Cabinet thanked the officers for their work on this.