The Core Strategy was submitted to the Planning
Inspectorate on Friday 8 July for independent examination. The
Examination closed on Monday 19 March when the Council received the
final Inspector's report.
The role of the inspector is to consider whether the document
is:
- Legally compliant: that it meets the requirements of the
Planning Compulsory Purchase Act and associated regulations;
and
- Sound: whether it is justified, effective and consistent with
national policy.
The inspector has recommended that the Core Strategy be adopted
with specific Main Modifications.
The inspector has taken into account:-
- the representations made to the Publication Version Core
Strategy January 2011
- representations made to the Council's proposed changes
published July 2011
- Issues examined at the hearing sessions in November and
December 2011
- Councils proposed Main Modifications January
2012
The report and its recommendations were considered by
Council on Tuesday 10 April where the Council adopted the
Plan to include these Main Modifications as well
as the Additional Modifications explained below.
A six week period follows within which any person aggrieved
by the Core Strategy may make an application to the High Court
under section 113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
on the grounds that either
(a) the document is
not within the appropriate power; or
(b) a procedural
requirement has not been complied with.
Examination Hearings
Examination hearings took place on 23 and 25 November and 13 and
14 December. Further information about the hearings can be
seen on our
Examination Hearings page.
Main Modifications
The Hearings were completed as programmed on Wednesday 14
December. During the process of the examination it became evident
that a number of modifications should be made to the Core Strategy
in order to ensure the soundness of the document.
The Council
undertook a 6 week consultation period on these
proposed Main Modifications January 2012. These
are modifications which arose since the submission of the
document and which potentially affect the soundness of the Core
Strategy. They do not include proposed changes which
were advertised in July 2011 at submission stage. These have
already been through the examination. (See also the
Sustainability Appraisal and Habitat Regulations Assessment:
Supplementary Statement on Proposed Changes and
Modifications - document ED/38 below).
The Inspector
took representations made on the proposed Main
Modifications into account in compiling his
report.
You can view the
responses received
on-line. A report outlining
the Main Modifications consultation and main issues
raised (pdf 173kb, March 2012) is also available.
In addition to the
Main Modifications the Council also propose a number of minor
modifications known as
Additional Modifications (pdf, Jan 12,
346KB) which individually, or in
combination, do not materially affect the soundness of the Core
Strategy and are not the subject of consultation.
The Council
previously published proposed changes to the Publication version in
July 2011 (see below). Responses received to this consultation have
already been taken into account by the Inspector during the course
of the examination.
A full corrected
version of the
Core Strategy (pdf, Jan 12,
2MB) with all the proposed modifications
marked can be viewed for information.
Previous
Proposed Changes Consultation
Following consultation on the Publication Version the council
published SD/06
Schedule of Proposed Changes to Publication
Version (pdf, July 11, 168kb) that have been
recommended to the Inspector for approval.
Representations
were invited on the Proposed Changes by 14 September
2011.
You can view the responses
online or
by viewing the
Core Strategy Proposed Changes - Responses Sep
11 document (pdf, Sept 11, 172kb).
All representations were forwarded to the Inspector who
subsequently requested PC/02
Council response to comments received on
Proposed Changes consultation (pdf, Sept 11, 234kb).
The additional
changes were proposed either as a result of :-
-
comments
received to the above consultation
-
consequential
changes resulting from revised Housing Land Supply numbers
October 2011
-
consequential
changes resulting from a revised North Somerset Retail Study
2011
-
other post
submission changes
These were
combined with the above July 2011 Proposed Changes in one
Schedule of Proposed Changes to Publication
Version (pdf, Nov 11, 282k). In order to assist
the examination process, comments were invited on the
Post-Submission Changes (highlighted in grey) particularly
those relating to Core Strategy policies CS20 and
CS30.
Sustainability Appraisal and Habitat Regulations
Assessment
A document has been produced detailing how requirements for
Sustainability Appraisal and Habitat Regulations Assessment have
been applied to the Changes/Modifications (ED38). This
Supplementary Statement (pdf, Feb 12, 198kb)
concludes that the Changes/Modifications do not raise issues
from either perspective that would require more detailed work at
this stage.
Draft
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
Following the publication of the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF) the Inspector requested that
North Somerset Council held a consultation on it's implications for
the Core
Strategy. Details are available on the
draft NPPF consultation page.
Correspondence with Inspector and Additional
Documentation
All correspondence with the Inspector and additional
documentation submitted before the hearing sessions can be viewed
here.
Examination Library
The Council has
prepared a comprehensive list of documents that form the
Examination Library. The library contains all the submission
documents but also includes national and regional planning policy
and guidance, evidence documents, and other documents which the
Council has had regard to in preparing the Development Management
Plan or that the parties were likely to refer to in the
examination.
Links to documents
available online are provided where practicable.
Representors may wish to note that documents which have been
added to the Examination Library since the start of the hearings
include the following:
Further documents available from 4 January 2012 -
Information about the examination process and procedure can be
obtained from the following documents:
Information about compliance and soundness and the
examination procedure in general can also be found on
the
Planning Portal website.
The
Programme Officer for the Examination was Mr Robert
Young
