Question
Can the Executive Member for the new local plan update me on its current progress especially in relation to how many houses are being planned for and where might those houses possibly go?
Minutes:
Can the Executive Member for the new local plan update me on its
current progress especially in relation to how many houses are
being planned for and where might those houses possibly
go?
Answer
As you are probably fully aware the Council is assembling the necessary evidence to support the Local Plan. I have spent a couple of months looking at that and we are still looking at all of the 270 sites that we have had submitted and most months another few get added to that list. This includes looking at all the land promoted into the local plan process. At this stage, we have not chosen or committed any particular approach or sites to managing future development. All options remain ‘on the table,’ looking at all the things we can do.
In the context of housing numbers, we expect the Government to introduce a standardised methodology for calculating housing need across England shortly. This has been sadly missing for a long time. We start with the objectively assessed need then some formula is applied and there are lots of interpretation of those formulas. They have promised us that this will be sorted shortly. This intent was first indicated in the housing white paper ‘Fixing our broken housing market’ in February 2017, with a draft methodology proposed as part of the consultation ‘Planning for the right homes in the right places’ in September 2017, which obviously did not work.
Ministers have indicated that the standardised methodology and we have had it confirmed in a couple of cases, as late as this afternoon to one of our Officers, alongside updates to the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before the summer parliamentary recess in July i.e. by the end of next week. So I think until such time as that is, then we are not going to commit to any form of numbers and before we go out to the consultation process.
Supplementary Question:
I attended an IMD last week which you signed off. In that the document says Berkshire authorities will use their best endeavours to meet the full OAN numbers and that is the existing numbers. There was an appendix to that document from Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils using words I have never, ever heard a council say to another council and that is an “unsound approach to plan making that is preventing at worse and hindering at best an essential duty to cooperate discussions across east and western SHMAs.” It goes on to say that this is considered to amount to a failure across Berkshire in meeting its duty to cooperate for key, strategic planning matters. In light of what the Leader said in this welcome and all of 3,000 residents have signed petitions designed to protect our green fields, what action are we actually taking in this authority to fight our corner instead of just acquiescing the Government’s point of view?
Supplementary Answer:
I totally agree with you. The reason for South Bucks withdrawing from the Housing Market Assessment area as you know was that they did not really want to participate in the process and take all the houses that were required for Slough. They prefer to align themselves with Buckinghamshire. The wording that they used in their notes is unfortunate and I assure you that we will not be doing nothing to tell anybody what we are supposed to do.