West Berkshire Core Strategy is 'sound', says Planning Inspector

The Inspector's report concluded that the West Berkshire Core Strategy provided an "appropriate basis" for the planning of the District, subject to a number of modifications.

The Core Strategy sets out a blueprint for proposed development in the area for the next 14 years and all proposed planning applications in the District will be judged against the policies in the Strategy if it is adopted.

The Council will decide whether to formally adopt the Core Strategy at a special meeting of the full Council, which is planned to be held on 16 July in the Council's Market Street offices.

The Inspector stated that the proposed alterations to the original draft submission in 2010 should now be made, which were consulted on and discussed at the examination. The key sites for development proposed in the draft, which include areas at Newbury Racecourse and Sandleford, remain.

For the Plan to be considered sound, the Council must amend it to confirm that the proposed 10,500 homes is not a cap on development; requiring an update to the Strategic Housing Market Assessment within 3 years and reviewing planned provision of housing in the light of that update, the Inspector's report said. 

The Inspector also said that the Council must introduce a new policy on sustainable development to reflect the overall aim of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

This is the fourth Core Strategy to be approved following the implementation of the NPPF, all of which have required amendment to reflect the sustainable development policy in the NPPF.

The Planning Inspectorate published a model policy in April, which it said would be an appropriate way to meet the expectation of the presumption in favour of sustainable development if incorporated into a draft Local Plan.

"The Council has requested that I recommend main modifications to make the Plan sound and capable of adoption. I conclude that with the recommended main modifications the West Berkshire Core Strategy...on balance, sufficiently meets the aims of the NPPF to be considered sound," the Simon Emerson, the Planning Inspector said.

"It's gratifying that the Inspector has endorsed all the main proposals the Council has made. It's pleasing to have our evidence base, main recommendations and the processes we used, fully endorsed via an Independent Inspector through an Examination in Public," said Councillor Alan Law, who has overseen the progress of the Strategy.

"With the Core Strategy in place we can maintain our local prosperity and economic growth, and provide the appropriate level of new housing whilst at the same time upholding the dominant environmental characteristics which define the area and which make West Berkshire such a desirable place to live and work," he said.