Regulation 18 And The Road To Regulation 19

Emerging Local Plan update (May 2022)

At an Extraordinary Council Meeting on 19 May, Councillors voted to progress the Local Plan and https://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/sdf to the next consultation phase so residents, businesses, employees, and visitors to the Borough can give their views. 

Whilst the Plan will deliver many positives for the Borough in terms of affordable housing, new infrastructure and responding to the climate emergency, it has been a very difficult challenge to balance these benefits against the high number of new homes the Government expects us to deliver.  Ultimately, the Council feels that not having an up-to-date Local Plan runs the bigger risk of not being able to defend our most precious green spaces against unwanted development. It is clear that higher buildings will always be hard to prevent in some parts of the Borough, as we have seen in the recent Inland Homes1 appeal decision regarding the former Masonic Hall in Staines-upon-Thames, but it offers additional protection to the most sensitive areas, including around conservation areas.

Alongside the Local Plan is the Staines Development Framework which will help transform and regenerate the centre of Staines-upon-Thames. The framework will address issues such as parking, improving public transport links, capitalising on the riverside location and enhancing the environment and public spaces.

An online consultation will begin on Wednesday 15 June and run until Monday 5 September 2022. Once live, you will be able to read and respond to the documents on our dedicated consultation web page: Current consultations  You can email us and ask to be notified when the consultation begins localplan@spelthorne.gov.uk or may ring or write to us to ask us to send a letter notifying you of the start.  Write to: Strategic Planning, Spelthorne Borough Council, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames, TW18 1XB.

FAQs regarding the upcoming Local Plan and SDF consultation

We encourage everyone to have their say and a range of communications channels will be used to ask for feedback from residents, including a special summer edition of the Bulletin magazine.

1 www.spelthorne.gov.uk/article/20552/Planning-Inspectorate-upholds-Inland-Homes-appeal

Submission to Government

The Local Plan (along with the Staines Development Framework) will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, a government organisation acting for the Secretary of State, which will arrange for an Examination in Public to take place.  

What the Inspector will consider

At the Examination, an independent inspector will review the policies and proposed site allocations in the plan to consider whether they are 'sound', which means they have to meet the following tests:

• positively prepared - the plan should be prepared based on a strategy which seeks to meet objectively assessed development and infrastructure requirements, including unmet requirements from neighbouring authorities where it is reasonable to do so and consistent with achieving sustainable development
• justified - the plan should be the most appropriate strategy, when considered against the reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence
• effective - the plan should be deliverable over its period and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic priorities
• consistent with national policy - the plan should enable the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the Framework

Examination process and public involvement

The Examination will be a series of open public sessions which members of the public can attend and observe.  At the Examination, officers and expert consultants appointed by the Council will be questioned by the inspector on how the Local Plan meets the tests of soundness. It is usual for developers and landowners to attend, often legally represented by barristers, to speak in favour of or oppose elements of the plan. The Council will also be represented by a barrister. There are often complex legal and technical points to be made and defended. Members of the public and residents' associations who make representations during the Reg 19 consultation in the spring will be asked if they wish to appear at the Examination in person and speak to the Planning Inspector directly on issues of importance to them.  Following the Examination, the inspector will issue a report to set out whether the plan can be recommended for adoption and if not, what needs to be changed in order to be found sound.  Once this has taken place, all Members of the Council will be asked to adopt the plan at a formal meeting. If adopted, the policies in the Local Plan and the Staines Development Framework will carry full weight and supersede former policies in older documents.

FAQs regarding the revised strategy can be viewed above under downloads.

Council challenges the Government and local MP on housing numbers

Communication between Spelthorne Borough Council and both Kwasi Kwarteng (Member of Parliament for Spelthorne) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (now the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) regarding the Local Plan and Housing Numbers - July 2018 to November 2021

Council challenges the Government and local MP on housing numbers