Issue - meetings

1.    That the updated interim Winchester District Local Development Scheme February 2025, as set out in Appendix 1 to report CAB3499, be approved and brought into immediate effect; and

2.    That authority is delegated to the Strategic Planning Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan, to undertake minor updating and drafting of any amendments required prior to publication.

Councillor Porter introduced the report and highlighted that the information required to compile a local plan and the time scale of its production were dependent on the government issuing the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act secondary legislation.  Consequently, she requested that the updated Local Development Scheme (LDS) be referred to as the interim LDS.  This was agreed.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee and Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Lee

Councillor Lee queried the impact of the local government reorganisation on the production of a Local Plan and sought assurances about the flexibility and adaptability of the timetables.  He suggested the possibility of sharing staffing resources with neighbouring authorities and queried whether there were sufficient resources for the amount of work required.  He asked whether the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) would allow for a lighter touch local plan review?

Councillor Horrill

Councillor Horrill noted that the Mayor of the new Strategic Authority would have responsibility for strategic planning from May 2026 and queried what new actions would be undertaken as part of the LDS to take account of this and devolution and local government reorganisation in general.  She asked what approach would be taken to employment provision and what protection the LDS offered against speculative development in the light of the Government’s increased housing number requirement.  She welcomed the insertion of the word “interim” and asked that if any significant changes were made to the LDS the document be brought back for further consideration by members. 

Councillor Porter and the Strategic Planning Manager responded to the comments and questions raised.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

1.                That the updated interim Winchester District Local Development Scheme February 2025, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved and brought into immediate effect; and

2.                That authority is delegated to the Strategic Planning Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan, to undertake minor updating and drafting of any amendments required prior to publication.