Note – the status of Neighbourhood Plans in the District may be found via this link
https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/my-services/planning-and-building/neighbourhood-planning/
Minutes:
The Committee was advised that good progress was being made towards the adoption of the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. The Modifications consultation had closed on 24 February; approximately 40 responses had been received. The Joint Strategic Planning Committee was currently finalising a response to these before sending all of them to the Local Plan Inspectors. A full schedule of consultation responses would be available to view on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plans website, under the examination pages.
It was anticipated that following receipt and consideration of the consultation responses the Inspectors would be in a position to issue their final report on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. It was still anticipated that the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan would go before the Joint Strategic Planning Committee on 13 April for adoption.
In terms of decision making, the further the Plan progressed towards adoption, the greater the weight that could be attributed to it. However it was only after adoption that the Plan would carry full weight in determining planning applications.
In response to the Government’s consultation on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, following the Member Workshop held on 22 February, West Lindsey District Council’s response had now been finalised and submitted.
The final response had been circulated to Members via Email. There was as yet no indication when the Government would publish its response to the consultation, however relevant information would be shared with Members through the usual channels.
The Government had issued its response to the consultation on biodiversity, net gain regulations and implementation. The key points to note were that the introduction of biodiversity net gain on small sites would be delayed until April 2024. The Government proposed to exempt small self-build and custom-build housing sites householder applications, biodiversity gain sites and development which would impact the habitat of an area smaller than 25 square metres. Local authorities would be provided with additional funding for and further guidance on preparing the introduction of biodiversity net gain. The price of statutory biodiversity credits would be set in May and off-site gains would be added to a new national register.
There remained one day left in which to submit a response, with the consultation closing on 2 March at 11:45pm. As such, Members were encouraged to take a look, particularly at areas of the consultation that impacted on Communities and also to encourage any Parish Council’s or Neighbourhood Planning Groups to consider the consultation content too. The consultation documents could be viewed via the following link:-
With regard to local issues, the Hemswell and Harpswell Joint Neighbourhood Plan referendum would take place on 2 March. A successful result would be reported to full Council on 6 March.
Members also heard the Keelby Neighbourhood Plan examination was nearing completion and the Hemswell neighbourhood Plan examination had started.
The Chairman acknowledged that there was quite a lot of information to digest and expressed the hope that in order to keep everyone up to date, a summary would be prepared and circulated to all Members of the Committee.