 Introduction To
The East Lindsey Local Plan
All non-metropolitan district councils must prepare a district-wide local
plan for their area. Planning decisions on proposals to build on land or change
its use must be judged against objective criteria and these are what the Local
Plan intends to provide. It should provide guidance, incentive and control for
development in the public interest. It should also be consistent with national
and regional planning policy and should provide the means of reconciling
conflicts between the need for development and the need to protect the built and
natural environments. The Plan has been prepared in accordance with Government
Regulations and Planning Policy Guidance and forms part of an overall
Development Plan for the area, along with the East Midlands Regional Planning
Guidance Note 8 (RPG8) and the Lincolnshire Structure Plan.
The East Lindsey Local Plan was adopted in 1995 and is made up of two parts.
The written statement setting out the policies and explanatory text governing
development and use of land comprises Part One. The proposals map and
accompanying inset maps show how many of these policies are to be implemented in
the District’s settlements and these form Part Two of the Plan. It was the first
Plan to cover the whole District. The policies in Part One of the Plan were
amended in 1999 to update them in line with changes in national Government
Policies. It is now time to review the Plan again, including the maps in Part
Two, to provide the policies that will shape planning decision-making in the
future.
The Review of
the East Lindsey Local Plan
The review of the Plan looks to set out a broad strategy for development in
East Lindsey until 2021. Land allocations for housing have been included up to
2013, which will provide sufficient supply of land to meet Government
requirements and to take the District through to, and beyond, its next targeted
review. The current two-part format of the Plan is to be retained.
Monitoring
Planning Policy Guidance Note 12 (PPG12) requires that Local Planning
Authorities keep under review the matters that may be expected to affect
development of their area. This is to ensure that the policies and proposals
remain up to date and effective. The policies and proposals of the Plan have
been the subject of monitoring over the Plan period to date and this will be
carried forward into the new plan period. This will take many forms depending on
the nature of the policies and proposals to be monitored. At a basic level, the
Council has to respond to the many changes to Government guidance and
legislation constantly. Both to make sure that any significant changes are
identified, so that an early or interim review of the Plan or its individual
policies can be undertaken, or Supplementary Planning Guidance prepared if the
change is less significant. One of the most rigorously monitored outcomes of
the Plan is house-building, to ensure that the required minimum five-year supply
of housing land in the District is maintained. The Council produces monthly
housing land availability data by which it can see how the sites allocated in
the Local Plan are performing and where windfall (including brown-field) sites
are coming forward for development. This enables the Council to react if there
is an under-supply of land, or if sites are being released disproportionately or
creating an over-supply. Other matters that are continuously monitored include
the frequency of use and continuing relevance of policies, the robustness of
policies when tested at Planning Inquiries, the take-up of industrial land,
population and demographic trends, changes in village facilities, development of
affordable housing, proportion of development on previously-used land, caravan
sites use and development, etc. The policies and proposals put forward in the
new Local Plan will continue to be monitored throughout their preparation and
consultation procedures. This will be used to inform any future changes and
improvements to the plan.
Plan
Preparation
There are a number of stages in the preparation of the revised Local Plan.
- Issues Paper (pre-deposit stage) – This was published as an
informal consultation stage in October 2000. It highlighted 13 key issues for
discussion, along with the proposed Key Strategic Aims, and asked for views on
these and any other issues that needed to be highlighted. The issues were set
out as a series of short background papers and related questions, to help
people structure their responses. The responses to the issues paper were
reported , in June 2001, to the Council which then agreed to a series of
actions to be taken forward into the deposit plan. This has formed a major
input into this plan.
- First Deposit Local Plan – This is the formal name given to the
current document. It sets out the detailed policies and proposals for the
development and use of land in the District. It is placed on Deposit (from
where it gets its name) for a minimum statutory period of six weeks, to allow
statutory consultees, local people and anyone with an interest in how the
District will develop in the future to make their views known on what is
proposed. All representations received within the advertised consultation
period will be accepted and considered by the Council in deciding if any
changes need to be made to the Local Plan.
- Second Deposit (Revised Deposit) Plan - Following consideration of
the representations, the Council will produce a revised Plan, which will show
where changes have been made. The Council will place the revised plan on
deposit for a further six week minimum period to allow for further
representations to be made. At this stage, representations can only be made to
those proposals that the authority has changed between the deposit and revised
deposit stages. There is no opportunity to propose alternative site
allocations or object to the omission of policies or proposals.
- Public Inquiry – Unresolved objections from both Deposit stages
will be considered at a Public Local Inquiry to be presided over by an
independent Inspector who is appointed by the Secretary of State. Objectors
can have their representations dealt with in writing or can be heard in public
at the Inquiry.
- Inspector’s Report – After the Inquiry, the Inspector will prepare
a report whose recommendations will be binding to the local planning
authority.
- Adoption –The Council will then advertise the adoption of the Plan.
At this stage, challenge can be made through the High Court but any objection
to the Plan at this stage shall be restricted to procedural matters.
Consultation
The Council has approved this Deposit Plan for public consultation.
Representations of support for, or objection to, any policy or proposal, or to
any omission of a policy or proposal, should be made in writing on one of the
Council’s response forms to be received at the address below by the closing
date stated on the response form. A full list of all of the consultation
events currently planned appears as part of the Statement of Community
Involvement.
Should you need more response forms, you can obtain them by:-
- photocopying an original;
- telephoning Tom Broddle on 01507 601111, extension 804;
- writing to Gemma Green at Room 49, East Lindsey District Council, Tedder
Hall, Manby, Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 8UP; or
- downloading copies from the Local Plan website on
www.e-lindsey.gov.uk.
(This link will open a new browser window.)
If you have any queries on the content of the plan you can telephone
01507 60111 and talk to Paul Kisby on extension 316 or Kay Turton or Craig
Fotheringham on extension 323 or e-mail the Local Plans team at
Local.Plan@e-lindsey.gov.uk
The Local Plan’s Vision of Sustainable Development in East Lindsey
The Council wants to see development that improves the quality of life for
everyone in the district by balancing social, economic and environmental
considerations now and for future generations.
The East Lindsey Community Strategy is being prepared to show how the people
of East Lindsey would like to see the District move forward in the future.
Having a vision is fairly easy. Turning it into reality is much harder.
This Local Plan will help to make sure that all new development fits into
this wider vision. It is one of the many tools that the Council intends to
use to ensure that East Lindsey is an increasingly fine place to work and
live in for years to come.
It will do this by insisting that, wherever possible, all new development is
sustainable. This means that it must satisfy the needs of the environment,
the rural economy and all of our communities in both the short and long term
without upsetting the delicate balance that exists between them.
More specifically, the following strategic aims have been drawn up to
provide the essential link between this broad vision and the Council’s
planning policies. They show what the Council is trying to achieve in its
policies and proposals.
The Key Strategic Aims of the Plan
- To meet the district’s development needs whilst safeguarding the wider
public interest and the environment
- To achieve more sustainable patterns of development through the efficient
and effective use of land and resources
- To respect and add to the local distinctiveness of different parts of the
district through the design of new development
- To integrate the development of urban and rural areas
- To make sure development does not discriminate against any group of people
or cause social exclusion
- To integrate land use and transport strategies
- To promote a strong and diverse economy
- To safeguard the district’s environmental and cultural resources
- To maintain and strengthen local communities
- To create certainty about where development can take place and to give clear
guidance on what types of development will and will not be acceptable.
These key strategic targets have been drawn from government planning
guidance and the Regional and County Structure Plans and have been adapted
to suit the particular needs of East Lindsey’s exceptionally rural
circumstances. They have been tested against government-endorsed
sustainability indicators and reflect the findings from the consultation
exercise on the Issues Paper in 2002.
As such, they carry considerable statutory weight and community support.
This means that, if there is ever any doubt or ambiguity in applying
individual policies of the plan, they may be used to judge the relative
weight to be afforded to potentially conflicting policy criteria.
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