This presentation is for councillors leading the production of the local plan. It looks at the main aspects of the plan-making process, sets out the key plan-making principles and steps that authorities need to take in order to get a robust plan in place. The material can be delivered by a council officer or by PAS at your authority and can be tailored to be delivered over a whole day, half day or evening.

1. Getting your Plan in Place
www.pas.gov.uk

2. Workshop Structure
• Introductions & objectives
• Session 1: The importance of good plan-making
• Discussion: Role of Elected Members
• Session 2: Developing a sound plan
• Exercise / Discussion: Identifying the key challenges to
adopting a sound Local Plan
• Lunch

3. Workshop Structure
• Session 3: The Duty to Cooperate
• Exercise / Discussion: Complying with the Duty to
Cooperate
• Session 4: The role of viability in plan-making
• Session 5: Programme management & what your plan
should look like
• Session 6: Examination process
• Questions and discussion

4. Objective
To equip you with a thorough understanding of key plan-making
principles and the steps that need to be taken in order that you
can help your planning authority get a robust plan in place as
soon as possible

5. Context
“Local Plans are the key to delivering
sustainable development that reflects the vision
and aspirations of local communities. Planning
decisions must be taken in accordance with the
development plan unless material
considerations indicate otherwise”
National Planning Policy Framework

6. What’s the problem?
• Recent figures
indicate 52% of
Local Authorities
do not have a local
plan in place
Source: Campaign to Protect Rural England,
March 2013

7. However…
• Recent data from
PINS indicates
less than 7% of
Local Authorities
have plans in place
that are judged to
fully comply with
the NPPF
Source: Planning Resource, March 2013

8. Situation
“…due weight should be given to relevant
policies in existing plans according to their
degree of consistency with this framework”
NPPF

9. Potential implications?
“End of NPPF transition
period is no cause for alarm”
Nick Boles
Source: Planning Resource,
March 2013
vs

10. Potential implications?
“Savills, an unbiased observer, thinks that because of
incomplete, inadequate or out of date local plans, a wave of
unplanned new housing decisions could be imposed on
local communities by planning inspectors. This could allow
speculative development proposals to arise on many sites.
As we predicted in 2011, this is likely to mean a rerun of
the 1980s ‘Planning by Appeal’ system…”
Policy Exchange

11. Session 1:
The importance of good plan-making

12. Why good plan-making matters
• Having a robust Local Plan
in place helps to:
- Move from plan-making to
place-shaping;
- Provide certainty for
communities and
developers;
- Focus council on delivery;
- Access more funding and
attract investment;
- Manage conflict!

13. Planning reform
• National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
• Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies  local
authorities responsible for determining
housing numbers
• Localism Act including the Duty to Cooperate
• Neighbourhood planning

14. NPPF and planning
• The NPPF explicitly states planning’s
principal role as being to help achieve
sustainable development
• “At the heart of the National Planning
Policy Framework is a presumption in
favour of sustainable development,
which should be seen as a golden
thread running through both plan
making and decision taking”

15. Key principles of the NPPF
• Emphasises that sustainable development should be
about positive growth – making economic,
environmental and social progress for this and
future generations
• Emphasises central role of Local Plans in planning
system

16. Key principles of the NPPF
• Local plans should:
“meet objectively assessed needs, with
sufficient flexibility to adapt to rapid change”
NPPF

17. Unless….
• “…any adverse impacts of allowing
development would significantly and
demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when
assessed against the policies in the
Framework taken as a whole”
NPPF
Remember – still a presumption in favour of
the plan

18. Implications / risks of not having an
up-to-date Local Plan in place
• Difficult to defend inappropriate development
• Priority in favour of ‘sustainable development’
• Increased ‘planning by appeal’ likely

19. Abolition of Regional Spatial
Strategies (RSS)
• Localism Act has removed the regional planning framework
meaning no further RSSs can be created
• “It remains necessary for Local Plans including Core
Strategies to be in general conformity with the RS. This was
made clear in the Court of Appeal case: Cala Home (South)
Ltd v SoS for CLG & ANR (May 2011)”
Rushcliffe Core Strategy, Inspector’s Note (November 2012)

20. Duty to Cooperate
• Introduced by Localism Act
• New tool for delivering strategic planning at local level
• Requires councils and public bodies to engage
constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis in
relation to planning for strategic issues

21. Neighbourhood planning
• Localism Act introduced new right for communities to draw
up neighbourhood plans
• “Neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with the
strategic policies of the Local Plan. To facilitate this, local
planning authorities should set out clearly their strategic
policies for the area and ensure that an up-to-date Local
Plan is in place as quickly as possible”
NPPF

22. The role of Elected
Members

23. The role of Members
• You have a vital leadership role to play to
produce a robust Local Plan for your area
that has buy in from all parties
• Key challenge is to listen to the views and
aspirations of your constituents and balance
this with the professional advice of your
planning staff in order to plan for, and meet,
the development needs of your area

24. The role of Members
• Leadership
• Understanding your issues
• Setting the vision & objectives
• Setting priorities
• Making decisions & understanding implications
• Agreeing programmes & resources
• Engagement / community accountability
• Working with other authorities and agencies
• Scrutiny and monitoring

25. Key relationships
• Key relationships:
– Leader and Portfolio Holder
– Cabinet Members and other Members
– Steering Group Members and officers

26. Discussion:
Role of Elected Members

27. Session 2:
Developing a sound plan

28. Developing a sound plan
Address the key priorities for the area
Plan positively
Develop a robust and credible evidence base
Co-operate with neighbouring areas
Focus on reasonable alternatives
Undertake comprehensive Sustainability Appraisal
Stakeholder engagement
Viable and deliverable in practice

29. Address the key priorities for the area
• Local Plans should “reflect a collective vision
and a set of agreed priorities for the
sustainable development of the area”
• “Local Plans should be aspirational but
realistic”
NPPF
Source: www.landscapeinstitute.org

30. Useful policies
• “Local Plans should set out the opportunities
for development and clear policies on what
will or will not be permitted and where. Only
policies that provide a clear indication of
how a decision maker should react to a
development proposal should be included in
the plan”
NPPF

31. Policies should cover…
• “the homes and jobs needed in the area”
• “the provision of retail, leisure and other commercial
development”
• “the provision of infrastructure”
• “the provision of health, security, community and
cultural infrastructure and other local facilities”
• “climate change mitigation and adaptation,
conservation and enhancement of the natural and
historic environment, including landscape”
NPPF

32. Plan philosophy
• Local Plans should “plan positively for the
development and infrastructure required in the
area”
NPPF
Source: www.nottingham.ac.uk/transportissues/

33. Robust and credible evidence base
• “Each local planning authority should ensure
that the Local Plan is based on adequate, up-to-
date and relevant evidence about the
economic, social and environmental
characteristics and prospects of the area”
NPPF

34. Evidence base (examples)
• Strategic Housing Needs Assessment (SHMA)
• Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)
• Authority Monitoring Report
• Five Year Land Supply Assessment
• Affordable Housing Economic Viability Assessment
• Employment land review
• Transport Assessments
• Retail assessment
• Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Study
• Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
• Landscape and Settlement Character Assessment
• Green Belt Review

35. Prioritising evidence gathering
• “Wherever possible the
local planning authority
should consider how the
preparation of any
assessment will
contribute to the plan’s
evidence base”
NPPF

36. Housing
• “To boost significantly the supply of housing”
NPPF
Source: www.guardian.co.uk

37. Housing evidence – two key
components
• Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) -
identifies the scale and mix of housing and the range
of tenures that the local population is likely to need
over the plan period
• Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
(SHLAA) – establishes realistic assumptions about
the availability, suitability and the likely economic
viability of land to meet the identified need for
housing over the plan period

38. The importance of the SHMA
• “The absence of an up to date SHMA is a
serious failing and makes a full assessment of
need difficult”
East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary
inspector’s report (November 2012)

39. Understanding need
• New toolkit available:
www.howmanyhomes.org

40. Meeting housing need
• “LPAs should use their
evidence base to
ensure that their Local
Plan meets the full,
objectively assessed
needs for market and
affordable housing in
the housing market
area”
NPPF
Source: www.guardian.co.uk

41. Important to analyse higher growth
options
• “The Authority’s assertion that environmental
constraints prevent them from meeting the
objectively assessed need is not supported by
any analysis of the impact of higher levels
of growth”
East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary
inspector’s report (November 2012)

42. Important to analyse options for
housing growth
• “I am surprised that the option for growth to the west
of the town does not appear to have been
considered by the council. I recommend that the
council should withdraw its Core Strategy, consider a
revised one and examine alternatives for housing
growth in both the south and the west of Melton”
Reported closing statement by Inspector at final Melton
Borough Council Hearing session
Source: Planning Resource

43. Dealing with unmet housing need
• The Council should “Consider making
provision for an increased number of
dwellings and/or set out results of discussions
with neighbouring authorities in relation to
meeting any unmet need in the District”
East Hampshire District Local Plan preliminary inspector’s
report (November 2012)

44. Future delivery more important than
past build rates
• “Past problems over delivery should not be
used to set targets for the future which are
significantly below the required level for new
housing”
Rushcliffe Core Strategy inspector’s note
(November 2012)

45. Addressing the housing shortfall
• Local planning authorities should “identify and
update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites
sufficient to provide five years worth of housing
against their housing requirements with an
additional buffer of 5%”
• “Where there has been a record of persistent under
delivery of housing, local planning authorities should
increase the buffer to 20%”
NPPF

46. Housing need - experience post
NPPF
“…far from Councils having successfully
reduced their housing targets as a result of
Localism, the first 12 months of the NPPF show
the vast majority of ‘sound’ Local Plans with
housing targets at least at the level proposed
by the RS.”
NLP (March 2013)

47. SHLAA
• The SHLAA should be the key
document to demonstrate the
deliverability of the housing
strategy in the plan, it should:
– Identify the availability of
sites with potential for housing
– Assess their suitability for
housing
– Assess likely economic
viability of land to meet
identified housing need

48. Green belt reviews
“Local planning authorities with Green Belts in their area should
establish Green Belt boundaries in their Local Plans which set
the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy. Once
established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in
exceptional circumstances, through the preparation or review of
the Local Plan. At that time, authorities should consider the
Green Belt boundaries having regard to their intended
permanence in the long term, so that they should be capable of
enduring beyond the plan period.” NPPF
Local Authorities in the south of England who are
contemplating green belt review
Source: Savills

49. Reasonable alternatives
• “Where an environmental assessment is required…
an environmental report shall be prepared in which
the likely significant effects on the environment of
implementing the plan or programme, and
reasonable alternatives taking into account the
objectives and the geographical scope of the plan or
programme, are identified, described and
evaluated…”
SEA Directive, Article 5(1)

50. Reasonable alternatives

51. Reasonable alternatives
• In March 2011, the UK High Court ruled that part of
the Forest Heath District Core Strategy must be
quashed because the Environmental Report failed to
present… “an accurate picture of what
reasonable alternatives there are and why they
are not considered to be the best option”…in
relation to an urban extension to the district’s main
town
Save Historic Newmarket Ltd v. Forest Heath District Council [2011] EWHC 606, a
challenge under s.113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to the
adopted Forest Heath Core Strategy

52. Sustainability Appraisal
• How sustainable is our
plan?
• Undertake SA at key
stages in the plan-making
process

53. Sustainability Appraisal
Sustainable
development
objectives
Option A: Locate the
majority of new
development in
Settlement X
Option B: Locate half
of new development in
an urban extension to
Settlement Y and
distribute the
remainder between
Settlements X and Z
Option C: Locate the
majority of
development in
Settlements Y and Z
and provide for
considerably higher
densities in Y
Objective 1 – provide
housing to meet local
need

Because…
 
Objective 2 – protect
and enhance
biodiversity
 XX X
Conclusions - Including the relative significance of the impacts, any assumptions made in
undertaking the assessment, different impact dimensions, potential mitigation and monitoring
measures

54. Exercise:
Identifying the key challenges
to adopting a sound Local
Plan

55. Lunch

56. Session 3:
The Duty to Cooperate

57. Duty to Cooperate
• New legal requirement under the Localism Act
• Designed to promote a culture change and
spirit of partnership working on strategic
cross boundary issues
• “Strategic planning in the context of localism”

58. What does the Duty mean for LPAs?
• “Working collaboratively with other bodies to
ensure that strategic priorities across local
authority boundaries are properly coordinated
and clearly reflected in individual Local Plans”
NPPF

59. Complying with the Duty
• “The Government expects joint working on areas of
common interest to be diligently undertaken for the mutual
benefit of neighbouring authorities”
NPPF
• “Cooperation should be a continuous process of
engagement from initial thinking through to implementation,
resulting in a final position where plans are in place to
provide the land and infrastructure necessary to support
current and projected future levels of development”
NPPF

60. Duty to Cooperate – two aspects
• Legal requirement to
co-operate under
section 33A of the
Planning and
Compulsory Purchase
Act 2004 (as inserted
by section 110 of the
Localism Act 2011)
• ‘Process’
• Policy tests set out in
paragraphs 178-181 of
the National Planning
Policy Framework
(NPPF)
• ‘Outcome’
• It is possible for a plan
to pass the process test
but fail the more
challenging outcome
test

61. Collaborative working

62. Evidence of engagement
• Examples:
- Plans/policies prepared by a joint committee
- Memorandum of understanding
- Jointly prepared strategy presented as evidence of an
agreed position (e.g. South Hampshire Strategy)
- Representations from adjoining LPAs etc.
- Statement of Common Ground / compliance
- Shared evidence base

63. Not complying with the Duty (1)
• “I am not satisfied, however, that it would be
consistent with national policy for Rushcliffe to
plan in isolation… Given the Framework’s
emphasis on planning strategically across local
boundaries, the issue – should Rushcliffe help to
meet the needs of Nottingham City? – is not one
that the Core Strategy can side-step”
Rushcliffe Core Strategy inspector’s note (November 2012)

64. Not complying with the Duty (2)
• “I conclude that the Plan does not meet the
legal requirements of the 2004 Act in that the
Council has not engaged constructively with
neighbouring local planning authorities on the
strategic matter of the number of houses
proposed in the Plan…”
Letter from the Planning Inspector to Coventry City Council (27
February 2013)

65. Exercise:
Complying with the DtC

66. Session 4:
The role of viability in plan-making

67. Viability and deliverability
• “Pursuing sustainable development requires
careful attention to viability and costs in
plan-making and decision-taking. Plans
should be deliverable.”
NPPF

68. Ensuring viability and deliverability
• For plan-making, this means:
Ensuring that the cumulative impact of local
standards and policies - when added to nationally
required standards - does not put implementation of
plan at risk

69. Whole Plan Viability
Source: ‘Viability Testing Local Plans: advice for planning practitioners’, Local Housing Delivery Group

70. Wish list of discretionary policies

71. The Residual Valuation based approach
Step 1:
Gross Development Value
(The combined value of the complete development)
LESS
Cost of creating the asset, including a profit margin
(Construction + fees + finance charges + Developer’s Profit, CIL, s106, CfSH etc.)
=
RESIDUAL VALUE
Step 2:
For a site to be viable, by how much must the Residual Value exceed the Existing/Alternative Use
Value? This is a professional judgment for the LPA (and their consultants) to make!
Compare the Residual Value to the Existing Use Value + a premium i.e. the assumed Threshold Land
Value (the point at which the landowner is likely to sell the land)
Does the scheme provide a ‘competitive return’ to the developer and landowner?

72. Gross Development Value
All income from a Scheme
Construction
Site Remediation
Abnormals
S106
Etc.
Fees
Design
Engineer
Sales
Etc.
Profit
Landowner
Developers
Builders
Land
Existing /
Alternative
Use Value
+ premium
(TLV/EUV+)
Policies/CIL
CIL, affordable
housing, CfSH,
open space etc.
The GDV is set by the market and cannot be changed

73. Viable/Unviable?
Source: ‘Financial Viability in Planning’, RICS

74. Session 5:
Programme management and
what your plan should look
like

75. Developing a Project Plan
• Effective project planning is critical to delivery of robust
Local Plan
• A good project plan should identify:
- Key stages
- Actions
- Roles & Responsibilities
- Indicative timetable
- Resources
- Costs

76. Stakeholder engagement
• Requirement of planning legislation
• Helps to create more realistic & deliverable
plans
• Views & knowledge of community form an
important part of the Local Plan evidence
base

77. Benefits of engagement
• Address conflicts early on
• Build wider sense of plan ownership
• Local people = local area experts

78. Benefits of engagement
“A lot of people object to new development
because they assume that the outcome will be
buildings that are at best characterless, cheap
in everything except price".
Policy Exchange

79. Who to engage?
• Neighbouring Planning Authorities: DtC
• Regulatory agencies: The Environment Agency, English
Heritage, Natural England
• Physical infrastructure delivery agencies: highways
authority, Highways Agency, utilities companies, Network
Rail, public transport providers, airport operators
• Social infrastructure delivery agencies: local authority
education dept, social services, primary care trust, strategic
health authority, the Police, charities/NGOs
• Major landowners including the local authority itself and
government departments and agencies
• Housebuilders and other developers
• Minerals and waste management industries

80. How to engage?
• Early and continuous engagement
• Understand the organisation
• Identify responsible individuals
• Invest in creating partnerships
• Find out what others feel the Local Plan can
do for them
• Use interactive sessions

81. Engagement challenges
• Ensuring early and constructive engagement
with neighbouring authorities
• Engaging communities and developers on
strategic issues
• Ensuring agencies will deliver
• Involving ‘hard to reach’ groups
• Balancing ‘breadth’ and ‘depth’ of
engagement
• Making best use of resources

82. The Local Plan
Local Plan
Annual Monitoring
Report
Supplementary
Planning
Documents
Local Development
Statement of
Community
Involvement
Site Specific Proposals Map
Scheme
Core Strategy Allocations
Area Action Plans Sustainability
Appraisal

83. What should the plan contain?
Vision
Strategic objectives
Delivery Strategy
Managing and monitoring
How much development
should there be?
Where should
development go?
When should development
happen?
By what means will the
development be delivered?

84. What should the plan look like?
- Aspirational but realistic
- Address the spatial implications of economic,
social and environmental change
- Set out the opportunities for development
- Contain clear policies on what will or will not be
permitted and where

85. Session 6:
The examination process

86. Examination
• “The Local Plan will be examined by an
independent inspector whose role is to assess
whether the plan has been prepared in
accordance with the Duty to Cooperate, legal
and procedural requirements, and whether it
is sound”
NPPF

87. NPPF Soundness Test
• Evidence demonstrating your plan is:
- Positively prepared - based on a strategy that seeks to
meet needs and requirements of neighbouring LPAs
- Justified - most appropriate strategy, when considered
against reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate
evidence
- Effective - deliverable over its period and based on
effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic
priorities
- Consistent with the NPPF - enable the delivery of
sustainable development

88. Questions and discussion