Integration of plan making at South Downs National Park
December 15, 2022
A planning blueprint for the future development of Shoreham Cement Works will be incorporated into the Authority’s Local Plan Review.
Members at a meeting of the National Park Authority voted to integrate the Area Action Plan (AAP) and Local Plan Review into a single planning document.
It comes after a consultation this summer looked at possible options for Shoreham Cement Works and received a total of 2,858 representations that are currently being processed.
Last August the Authority also launched its “Call for Sites” as the Authority began a review of its Local Plan – a process that is required by law to ensure the Local Plan is up-to-date.
Following this summer’s general call-out, the Authority will be carrying out a park-wide Land Availability Assessment. This will involve looking at the suitability of all the submitted sites.
The integration of the AAP and Local Plan Review means the timetable has been adjusted, with the first draft documents out for consultation in 2024-2025.
Tim Slaney, Director of Planning, explained that the decision had been made for a number of important reasons, including an uncertain future for AAPs.
He said: “There is a considerable amount of uncertainty in plan making at the moment.
“The radical changes proposed in the Planning for the Future White Paper in 2020 were not forthcoming, but the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) published in May this year and currently going through Parliament would make significant changes to plan making once enacted.
“If the LURB goes forward, there will be a single local plan for a local planning authority and any additional plans such as Area Action Plans will potentially be demoted to a supplementary plan.
“Therefore, in the interests of the need for efficiency of resources and certainty for the public, we’ve taken the decision to integrate these two important planning processes into one document.
“Both are key pieces of work in planning for the future of the National Park and will be subject to further public consultation.”