In an exploratory meeting, called by the Inspector, the Council had to respond to the Inspector's concerns and said that the action required to make the Core Strategy "sound" could take up to six months.
"I have not at this point reached a definite conclusion that the Core Strategy is unsound," the Inspector said (29-page / 264KB PDF), when he requested an exploratory meeting with the Council.
The first thing the Council must establish is that it has fulfilled the Localism Act's 'duty to co-operate' and whether the Council has complied with the legal requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment.
"The duty to co-operate imposed by [the Localism Act] is incapable of modification by me at this Examination...if the legal requirement is not fulfilled then I have no choice other than to recommend non-adoption of the Core Strategy," the Inspector said.
Residential development was another concern raised by the Inspector, who was concerned that, out of the 16,000 dwellings that have been proposed during the plan period, the Council has only identified the delivery of 12,270 dwellings.
"This leaves some 3,730 dwellings for which the CS does not specify a geographical location, which it should do as a vital strategic matter," the Inspector said.
In the Council's responses to the Inspector's Preliminary Issues, it outlined a timeline which highlighted its intended action and predicted time span to answer the Inspector's concerns.
The Council's timeline shows that the Core Strategy could be delayed by up to six months, due to the extra work that could be needed to make it acceptable to the Planning Inspector.
The most time consuming amendment for the Council is thought to be the rectification of its strategic allocations to supplementary planning documents.
The Inspector claimed that the "sites are too large, too complex and, more importantly, the level of detail in the Core Strategy is too sparse on what goes where and when for this to be left to supplementary planning documents."
The Inspector wanted each supplementary planning document to be guided by an Area Action Plan, in addition to more detail being included in the Core Strategy policies.
The Councils agreed that more detailed information included within the draft supplementary planning documents could be added to the policies within the Core Strategy. But it said that this would take up to September or October this year to complete.
