A council’s leaders have said they are voluntarily considering whether to reject a new planning blueprint that would protect their area from speculative applications, as are happening in Cheshire East.
The new Reform UK administration at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, which took control of the authority after last month’s elections, inherited a draft local plan from the previous Conservative administration.
The local plan, which will guide all development in the borough up to 2040, is due to be formally adopted at next month’s full council meeting, following examination by the planning inspector writes local democracy reporter Phil Corrigan.
It includes a raft of policies and site allocations showing where 400 homes a year could be built over the plan period.
The council area covers parts of Mow Cop, Newchapel and Harriseahead.
Council leader Coun Jonathan Gullis said Reform UK wanted to make some changes to the plan, including removing some site allocation and “burdensome” regulations, and wrote to the inspector asking for more time to make these modifications.
But the inspector rejected this request, saying that the examination of the plan had ended and there was no mechanism for making further changes.
This means the council has to either adopt the draft plan in its current form, or reject it.
Council officers recommend adopting the plan, saying it would give the authority more control over planning decisions, but Coun Gullis said his administration would look at both options.
He said: “Our new administration inherited this local plan at a point where the process had reached its end – and that leaves us with a binary choice: accept the local plan placed before us, or reject it and accept the legal and planning consequences that may follow.
“We will use the time ahead of the full council meeting on 8th July to scrutinise both options carefully and make a decision in the best interests of residents across Newcastle-under-Lyme borough.”
The council has been working on the local plan since 2021, with the final draft version being submitted to the inspector for examination in 2024.
Following the examination a number of changes were made, with some site allocations being dropped in order to address the inspector’s concerns.
The inspector has accepted these changes, which she said made the plan “sound” and ready to be adopted. Cabinet members are due to consider the local plan at their meeting on Tuesday.
A report from senior officers advised the Cabinet to recommend the plan for approval at full council.
They said it had taken “significant cost and resources” to get to this point, and abandoning the plan could lead to “reputational damage”.
The report said: “Without the local plan, the council would have difficulties in demonstrating a five-year supply of homes and would continue to accept that its policies are not up to date for the purposes of decision taking.
“This would leave the borough council in a vulnerable position to speculative planning applications, with potentially increased appeal and other costs.
“It would not provide stability in decision making, nor support investment or regeneration in the borough.”
Coun Gullis also hit out at the Government for requiring councils such as Newcastle to start working on their next local plan, in order to meet increased housing targets.
Newcastle’s housing need, as calculated by the Government, has gone up from 400 to 559 a year.
As the new local plan will meet less than 80% of this increased housing need, the council will need to start working on its next plan this year.
Coun Gullis said this was unfair on Newcastle, and suggested the new plan may never be adopted due to the borough council itself facing the axe under local government reorganisation.
He said: “This is a shambles of Westminster’s making. Like many residents, I am appalled and frustrated.”
Cabinet members will be asked to agree to start the new local plan process at their meeting on Tuesday.
