The Staffordshire council said in a letter to the inspector carrying out the examination that it has received a legal challenge in relation to the main modifications of its local plan strategy (1-page / 31KB PDF).
The Council said it is defending the legal challenge and "will be seeking an expedited hearing of the challenge in order to minimise any prejudice to the timely progress of the resumption of the examination".
The Council launched a consultation on main modifications in February following an examination hearing of its draft local plan last summer. The inspector had sent a note to the Council warning that it would need to identify sites for at least 900 further homes for the plan to become sound.
The proposed main modifications included amendments to policies on housing numbers, phasing and the identification of new strategic housing sites to accommodate the additional homes.
The challenge is scheduled for a hearing in the High Court on 1 and 2 July, according to a report by Planning Magazine.