Cabinet consideration of formal consultation on the draft policies submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public

The Secretary of State published the North West of England Plan Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021 (RSS) on 30 September 2008, replacing Regional Planning Guidance for the North West (RPG13, March 2003).  The new RSS  provides the framework for development and investment in the region over the next fifteen to twenty years.  It would form part of the statutory Development Plan for Wirral alongside the Council’s Unitary Development Plan and would have implications for the determination of individual planning applications and other decisions under the Planning Acts, with immediate effect.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Services presented a report which summarised the main content of the new RSS and set out the implications for future decisions, policies and initiatives in Wirral.  The Director recommended that the policies of the new RSS were used in development control decisions for all planning applications determined after 30 September 2008; that the principles and priorities of the new RSS were incorporated into the Council’s Local Development Framework; that the Council’s Interim Planning Policy for New Housing Development be reviewed subject to the outcome of a public inquiry at Rockybank Road; and that a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment for Wirral be prepared as part of a joint commission with Liverpool City Council to reflect the arrangements already agreed for the Mersey Heartlands Growth Point.

Resolved : That

(1)  the policies of the North West of England Plan be used in development control decisions for all planning applications determined after 30 September 2008;

(2)  the principles and priorities set out within the North West of England Plan be incorporated into the issues and options to be addressed by the Council’s Local Development Framework;

(3)  the Council’s Interim Planning Policy for New Housing Development be reviewed following the outcome of the public inquiry at Rockybank Road and that a report on the review be brought back to Cabinet before public consultation is undertaken; and

(4)  a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment for Wirral be prepared as part of a joint commission with Liverpool City Council to reflect the arrangements already agreed for the Mersey Heartlands Growth Point.