Councillor Osman Dervish, Cabinet member for Regulatory Services and Community Safety, introduced the report
Cabinet was reminded that in December 2014 it had approved the preparation of a new Local Plan for Havering to replace the previous Local Development Framework and had agreed the consultation questionnaire for the first stage of the statutory consultation.
The report before Members provided an update on the progress of the Local Plan to date - particularly the considerable work that had been done to build a robust evidence base. It also sought Cabinet approval to publish an updated Local Development Scheme (LDS) which was a statutory document setting out the plans and policy documents that would be prepared and a timetable for their delivery.
The report also provided an update on recent changes to national policy for wind turbines and informed Cabinet on how this would be dealt with in the emerging Local Plan.
Reasons for the decision:
The decision to publish an up- to-date Local Development Scheme had been taken for the following reasons:
– An up- to- date Local Development Scheme was a statutory requirement under Section 15 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (PCPA) as amended
– The current Local Development Scheme did not reflect the latest timeframe for the preparation of the Local Plan
– The publication of an up-to-date LDS on the website reduced the number of telephone and email queries.
Other options considered:
The option of not publishing an up-to-date LDS was rejected as the current version was out-of-date and did not reflect the latest time-table for the preparation of the Local Plan.
Cabinet:
1. Noted the progress to date on the Havering Local Plan.
2. Approved the Local Development Scheme for publication (attached as Annex 1 to the report).
3. Noted the changes to national policy with regards to wind energy.