WEST BERKSHIRE LOCAL PLAN REVIEW
Latest Update: 30th September 2024
EXAMINATION LATEST NEWS / TIMELINE
Hearing Sessions commenced at 9.30am on Wednesday 8th May within Shaw House, Church Road, Newbury, RG14 2DR. Further information is contained in Document IN7. The hearing sessions were live-streamed to the Council's YouTube Channel.
30th September 2024 - EXAM 60 - WBC's Updated Proposed Main Modifications to RSA Policies published.
27th September 2024 - A revised Agenda for the 2nd October has been published which alters the running order to consider Pincents Lane first. EXAM 58 - Council's Response to IN33 re Five Year Housing Land Supply & EXAM 59 - Long Copse Farm Planning History Maps published.
26th September 2024 - EXAM 57 - WBC response to IN32 - Pincents Lane , IN34 - Agenda for 1st October - North East Thatcham, IN35 - Agenda for 2nd October - Housing Land Supply, IN36 - Agenda for 3rd October - DM4 & RSA 25 published.
25th September 2024 - EXAM 56 - Cold Ash Neighbourhood Plan added.
24th September 2024 - IN33 - Inspector's Note Regarding Housing Land Supply published.
20th September 2024 - IN32 - Inspector's Note Regarding TIL 13 Pincents Lane published. Please note that no further comments will be now be accepted. The Written Statement Index has been updated to reflect all submissions received in response to TIL 13.
18th September 2024 - Written Statement Index updated to include additional submissions received in respect of SQ7.17 - TIL 13 Pincents Lane, Tilehurst.
10th September 2024 - Written Statements Index updated to include Written Statements submitted in response to IN31.
9th September 2024 - EXAM 53.1 - Council's Response to AP77 (Corrected) published. Please note a correction has been made to the Council's response to AP 77. It includes a figure of 1760 on page 5 for the number of dwellings to be completed on the North East Thatcham site (rather than 1900 in the original EXAM 53 response. No other amendments have been made.
28th August 2024 - EXAM 55 - Council's Schedule of Proposed Modifications as at 1st August 2024 (Revised) and EXAM 55A - Explanatory Note to Accompany EXAM 55 published.
21st August 2024 - IN31 - Inspector's Note Regarding Additional October Hearings and Associated Arrangements published.
19th August 2024 - The Council have submitted a number of documents in response to the Inspector's Post Hearing Letter (IN30) comprising of: EXAM 50 - Covering Letter from Leader of West Berkshire Council, EXAM 51 - Council's Response to AP75, EXAM 52 - Council's Response to AP76, EXAM 53 - Council's Response to AP77, EXAM 53A - SA Note to Accompany EXAM 53 & EXAM 54 - Council's Response to AP78.
9th August 2024 - EXAM 49 - Council's Schedule of Proposed Modifications as at 1st August 2024 published. The updated schedule includes all of the Council's modifications up to and including those in EXAM 46 published on the 5th of July, it supersedes the schedule published as EXAM 23 dated 2nd May 2024.
1st August 2024 - EXAM 48 - Home Builders Federation Response to EXAM 39 published.
31st July 2024 - IN 30 - Inspector's Post Hearing Letter published.
18th July 2024 - EXAM 47 - Bloor Homes Response to EXAM 39 published.
5th July 2024 - EXAM 46 - Council's Response to IN29 - Week 5 Actions published.
3rd July 2024 - EXAM 45 - Council's Response to AP's 59 & 60 published.
1st July 2024 - The Council’s responses to AP37 and AP38 were published on 20 June 2024 (EXAM39). The response to AP37 proposes a main modification to policy DM4 setting out revised energy efficiency standards for different types of dwelling, and the response to AP38 sets out further information about the costs associated with policy M4 assumed in the viability assessment. If any representor wishes to submit a written statement (up to 1,000 words) about the Council’s responses to AP37 and AP38 it should be received by the Programme Officer by midday on Friday 12 July.
28th June 2024 - IN29 - Actin Points Week 5 and EXAM 44 - Council's Response to AP68 published.
24th June 2024 - IN28 - Hearing Agenda for day 11 , EXAM 42A - Revised Annex A of EXAM 42 correcting inaccuracies in the way the modifications have been displayed in terms of strikethrough and underlined text and EXAM 43 - Council's Response to AP63 published.
21st June 2024 - EXAM 40 - Council's Response to IN27, EXAM 41 - NE Thatcham Partnership Position Statement, EXAM 41A - NE Thatcham Partnership Technical Note & EXAM 42 - Council's Response to AP's 15 - 26 published.
20th June 2024 - EXAM 39 - Council's Response to IN26 - Week 3 Action Points published.
19th June 2024 - EXAM 38 - Council's Response to AP27 published. The Inspector has agreed a short extension of time for the Council to submit Action Point responses to AP15-26. This information is now expected on Friday 21st June and will be published thereafter. An agenda for the forthcoming session on the 26th June will be published in the early part of the following week.
18th June 2024 - EXAM 36 - Long Copse Farm Appeal Decision 2001 & EXAM 37 - Long Copse Farm Planning Application 2023 published.
17th June 2024 - IN27 - Action Points from Week 4 published.
11th June 2024 - EXAM 35 - LPA's Proposed Modifications to Policies SP9, DM9, DM10 and DM11 relating to the historic environment published. These modifications will be subject to discussion during the hearing sessions on 12th June 2024.
10th June 2024 - IN26 - Action Points for Week 3 published.
6th June 2024 - EXAM 33 - Council's response to IN19 republished to correct numbering error.
5th June 2024 - IN25 - Inspector Note re Additional Hearing Day for North East Thatcham & Updated IN10 - Hearings Programme published,
4th June 2024 - Agendas for Day 9 & Day 10 published. EXAM 34 - Statement of Common Ground between WBC & Baker and White published.
3rd June 2024 - A revised agenda for Day 6 has been published with an update to include the Acouncil's AP29 response and correcting dwelling numbers for sites RSA 38 & 39.
2nd June 2024 - A number of the Council's Action Point Responses have been published. Response to AP12, AP13, AP28 & AP29. The Council's Response to IN19 - Supplementary Question regarding 5 Year Housing Land Supply also published.
30th May 2024 - IN19 - Inspector's Supplementary Question to Council re 5 Year Housing Land Supply published. Please note that in posing the question the Inspector has taken a precautionary approach and assumed the relevant 5 year period following adoption is from 1st April 2026. Hearing Agendas for Day 6 v2, Day 7 and Day 8 published. Please note the Day 6 agenda has been republished to take into consideration the Council's Action Point responses AP28 & 29.
28th May 2024 - IN18 - Actions List from Week 2 published.
24th May 2024 - IN10 - Hearings Programme and Guidance updated. No changes have been made to the guidance or the structure of the Programme, the latest update brings the participant position up to date.
23rd May 2024 - WS5/1A Addendum to WBC's Matter 5 Written Statement & EXAM 28 - Sandleford Park West Committee Report published.
22nd May 2024 - EXAM 27 - Lichfields Start to Finish Study 3rd Edition published.
20th May 2024 - EXAM 26B - Council's Response to Action Point 1 and EXAM 26C - Council's Response to Action Point 2 published.
17th May 2024 - EXAM 26 - Council's Response to IN14: Week 1 Action Points & EXAM 26A - West Berkshire Strategic Transport Model - Local Plan Forecasting Report, IN17 - Inspector Note on Future discussions as a result Action Points from Week 1 Hearings and consequential revised agendas for Days 3 & 4 and Day 5 published.
16th May 2024 - Hearing Agendas for Days 3 & 4 considering Matter 4 and Day 5 considering Matters 5 & 6 published.
14th May 2024 - IN14 - Actions List from Week 1 republished with extended response deadline of noon on Monday 20th May for AP's 1 & 2.
13th May 2024 - IN14 - Actions List from Week 1 Hearings published.
3rd May 2024 - Latest Programme, EXAM 24 - Statement of Common Ground between WBC & Environment Agency together with an Accompanying Note and EXAM 25 - Statement of Common Ground between WBC & National Highways published.
2nd May 2024 - EXAM 23 - Council's Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications (as at 2nd May) published.
Archived News: A timeline of events from submission to April 2024 can be found here.
THE INSPECTOR
Planning Inspector; William Fieldhouse BA(Hons) MA MRTPI has been appointed to undertake an independent examination into the soundness of West Berkshire's Local Plan Review (the Plan).
The Inspector’s task will be to consider the soundness and legal compliance of the submitted Plan, based on the criteria set out in paragraph 35 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021 (the Framework) and associated regulations., namely the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Localism Act 2011 and the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.
The Inspector will take into account the representations submitted upon the Regulation 19 Draft Plan as far as they relate to soundness considerations. A number of informal debates will take place on the principal matters identified by the Inspector these are termed Hearing Sessions.
At the end of the Examination, the Inspector will prepare a report to the Council with precise recommendations, these recommendations may include modifications to the Plan, if such a request is made by the Council.
PROGRAMME OFFICER
My role is to act as the point contact for any person who has an interest in the Examination and as a liaison between the Inspector, Council and Representors. I am an independent Officer of the Examination and work on behalf of the Inspector to organise and manage the administrative and procedural elements of the Examination process. Any matters that anyone wishes to raise with the Inspector should be submitted to me in the first instance.
Address: PO Box 241, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 1DW
Email: ian@localplanservices.co.uk
Telephone: 07723009166
KEY DATES
16th February 2024 - Written Statements Deadline (Matters 1-3)
8th March 2024 - Participation Requests Deadline.
22nd March 2024 - Written Statements Deadline (Matters 4-13)
8th May 2024 - Hearing Sessions Commence.
GUIDANCE NOTES
Guidance Notes have been prepared by the Inspector to help people understand the process. Procedural Guidance for Local Plans has also been produced by the Planning Inspectorate, together with a short guide aimed at those participating in a local plan examination for the first time.
REGULATION 19 REPRESENTATIONS
Alphabetical List of all Regulation 19 Representations submitted in response to the consultation on the Proposed Submission Draft Plan.