Barnet Council's Core Strategy is sound, says Inspector

The Core Strategy will be used as a blueprint for development in the area for the next 15 years, and it is the second core strategy to be approved following the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

"This report concludes that Barnet's Core Strategy...which forms part of the Barnet Local Plan provides an appropriate basis for the planning of the borough over the next 15 years, providing a number of modifications are made to the plans," the Inspector's report said.

One of the modifications requires the Borough to amend its Core Strategy to include the Planning Inspectorate's "model policy" wording for the NPPF's "presumption in favour of sustainable development".

The model wording was published by the Inspectorate to assist local authorities in meeting the expectation within the NPPF to have policies guiding the local application of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

The Planning Inspectorate said that it considers that the model policy would, if incorporated into a draft Local Plan submitted for examination, be an appropriate way of meeting this expectation.

Other modifications include requiring the Borough to increase its policy on affordable housing to 40%, as opposed to the original Policy which proposed 30%. The Inspector's report also requires the Borough to include provision for 400 new homes to be built on a business park in the north of the Borough.

The Borough's overall target of 21,720 homes was deemed acceptable by the Inspector, a figure which has been largely informed by a London wide Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) from 2009.

The Inspector found that the Borough had more than a five year supply of land to deliver enough housing for the Borough. It is now hoped that the Borough could adopt the strategy in September.