The suspension of the examination of the Core Strategy could delay its implementation by more than a year, according to the Council's revised timetable, which estimated that adoption of the Core Strategy would take place in December 2013.
The Council's request to suspend (2-pages / 50KB PDF)
the examination of the Core Strategy has been drafted in response to a Planning Inspector's "preliminary conclusions and on strategic matters and the way forward".
Upon preliminary examination of the Strategy, the Inspector said there were two options open to the Council.
"Either to seek a further suspension of the Examination to enable further work to be undertaken; or withdraw the Core Strategy and undertake the further work as part of an integrated Local Plan, which incorporates site allocations," the Inspector's letter said (35-pages / 243KB PDF).
The Inspector's main concern with the Council's Core Strategy related to is approach to planned housing. "There is a lack of National Planning Policy Framework compliant assessment of the housing requirements, given the unsuitability of the Council's methodology," the Inspector's letter said.
The letter also referred to the need to make up a shortfall of 850 dwellings to 2,006 under the existing local plan, the need for a 20% buffer to the five year housing land supply and a general lack of flexibility in the Plan to deal with any delay, growth or other changes.
"In the absence of adequate evidence in relation to the housing requirement, there are no main modifications which I can suggest now to move the Examination forward. Substantial further work by the Council will be required," the Inspector said.
In its letter to the Inspector, the Council acknowledged that it would need to comply with the Localism Act's duty to co-operate. The Council was not required to comply with the duty for its original Strategy, because it was prepared before the duty came into effect and the section was held not to have retrospective effect.
The duty to cooperate must be adhered to during the 'preparation' of the Core Strategy, meaning that BNESC must comply with the duty if it amends or consults on its proposed Core Strategy, despite not having to comply with the duty when it originally drafted its Strategy.
"To enable BNESC to progress the Core Strategy and to ensure that the duty to co-operate is met, BNESC will agree an approach to working with neighbouring authorities," it said. "This will include the methodology for re-assessing housing need and the process for considering changes to the spatial strategy."
"This will entail the West of England Planning Housing and Communities Board as well as working with individual Local Authorities which will need to take account of their intended programmes for the review of their Core Strategies," BNESC said.
