Issue - meetings

Wirral Local Plan - 2020-2035: Approval of Issues and Options Document for Public Consultation

Meeting: 13/01/2020 - Cabinet (Item 78)

78 Wirral Local Plan - 2020-2035: Approval of Issues and Options Document for Public Consultation pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Anita Leech introduced a report, which sought approval of an Issues and Options document for public consultation as part of the preparation of the Council’s Local Plan for the Borough. In doing so she read out a statement that she had prepared informing that there was now an opportunity to create a blue print for the borough’s future prosperity, sustainable development and to improve the lives and chances of those living in the Council’s administrative area. The Local Plan would be a key strategic document which would influence how the Council delivered the majority of its services. Councillor Leech also informed that in less than a year the Council had made great progress by moving from the precipice of Government intervention to being on the brink of having a real chance to deliver much needed regeneration to those areas that need it most, to respond to the climate emergency and to provide sustainable options for the future.

 

Appended to the report were:

 

·  Appendix 1 – Issues and Options Consultation Document;

·  Appendix 2 – Issues and Options Appendices;

·  Appendix 3 – Sustainability Appraisal Headline Findings Report; and

·  Appendix 4 – Habitats Regulations Assessment.

 

Councillor Leech reported that producing a Local Plan was one of the most important obligations for a local authority.  Local Plans set out a long-term vision for how an area would develop in the future, with policies that would shape future development.  Councillor Leech informed that they addressed a wide range of issues, from strategic planning matters that affected the whole local authority area right through to finer details on the design of development on individual sites.  It was noted that the Government required each local planning authority to produce a Local Plan and then review it at least once every five years to ensure it was up to date. 

 

Councillor Leech told the Cabinet that the Wirral Local Plan would cover a period from 2020 through to 2035 and set out policies and proposals to guide the future development of the Borough over that time.  It would set out where future development would take place, and allocate land for housing, employment, mixed-use and other development.  The Local Plan would also seek to protect the most important characteristics of the Borough, by preserving our unique natural and historical assets from development. 

 

It was reported that in preparing the new Local Plan the Council must consult with local residents to seek their views on its proposed contents.  The Council also had to engage with its local and regional partners, such as neighbouring local authorities and government agencies.

 

The Local Plan Issues and Options document set out the Council’s proposals and the Cabinet noted that it had to be published for consultation under Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, which required that:

 

(1)  “A local planning authority must –

 

(a)  Notify each of the bodies or persons specified in paragraph (2) of the subject of a local plan which the local planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78