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Planning

Consultation: Planning Checklists

We are seeking comments on amendments to our planning validation checklists. To find out more and how to provide feedback please visit the consultation page.

Local Plan Update

On 24 January 2023, Huntingdonshire District Council's Cabinet agreed to the preparation of a full update to the adopted Local Plan which will set out a plan for how the district will grow over future decades.

This will include starting the process of producing new local evidence and opportunities for public engagement and feedback as the plan progresses.

What is a Local Plan?

A Local Plan sets out a plan for future sustainable development in the district. It performs two specific roles:

  • It identifies key areas of land for development to deliver the homes, jobs and services needed in the district, and

  • Includes policies against which all planning applications are considered.

The Local Plan is the document by which all development in the district is judged, it provides the basis for what can happen, where it can happen and when it can happen.

Why does the Local Plan need to be updated?

The council's current Local Plan to 2036 was adopted on 15 May 2019 identifying sufficient land for new homes, jobs, facilities, infrastructure, and open spaces to meet known needs.

Town and Country Planning Regulations state that the local planning authority must review it every five years starting from the date of adoption. Additionally, planning legislation has changed nationally so updating the adopted Local Plan is key to ensure it reflects the priorities of the district and local communities and legislation.

The Local Plan alongside Neighbourhood Plans and the Minerals and Waste Local Plan will continue to be used to determine planning applications until the updated Local Plan is completed.

Frequently asked questions

On 24 January 2023, Huntingdonshire District Council's Cabinet agreed to the preparation of a full update to the adopted Local Plan which will set out a plan for how the district will grow over future decades.

So far we have consulted on the documents listed below:

  • Statement of Community Involvement - which sets out how we will engage on planning-related matters.

  • Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report - which sets baseline information for Huntingdonshire to inform the development of sustainability objectives to test the Local Plan against. 

  • Land Availability Assessment Methodology - this sets out how we will consider sites that have been put forward for potential allocation in the Local Plan. 

  • Settlement Hierarchy Methodology - this sets out how we will assess the sustainability of settlements and will aid in the decision-making on their suitability for future growth in the next Local Plan.

  • Issues Engagement Papers - which highlighted known issues in the district and asked for people's opinions on topics to inform the development and priorities of the local plan. There were 3 options to help people respond:

  • The Call for Sites - an opportunity for people to send the council details of sites that might be suitable for allocation in the next Local Plan.

Taking account of comments from the consultation we finalised and published the following:

We have also published an interactive map and spreadsheet of the sites that have been submitted so far.

Town and parish council information sessions were also held on the 24 May and 5 June 2023 to inform councils of the Local Plan update, and current progress and allow the opportunity to ask questions.

We have a lot of work to do so you may not hear from us for a while.

We will be using the finalised Land Availability Assessment Methodology to assess the sites that have been submitted and conduct sustainability appraisals of the sites.

We will be analysing comments from the Issues consultations to help formulate priorities for the Local Plan and develop options.

We are analysing the comments from the Settlement Hierarchy Methodology to create a document entitled the Sustainability of Settlements Methodology and Results, which will help to inform the development of a settlement hierarchy.

We will produce a Statement of Consultation which will act as a record of the consultation and public engagement carried out as part of the development of a Local Plan. It will include summaries of the main issues raised by the public and statutory consultees, how comments have been taken into account, and any actions the council has taken as a result.

We will be developing and commissioning other evidence to help inform the preparation of the Local Plan.

The Call for Sites is a process whereby the council asks developers, landowners, agents and local communities to suggest possible sites wholly or partially within Huntingdonshire that might have potential for development.

It gives the council an idea of what land is available to help inform potential areas for growth in the district.

We asked about sites which might be suitable and available for the following:

  • Housing, including specialist housing such as that for elderly people

  • Commercial uses such as industry, retail, commercial leisure and logistics

  • Infrastructure uses such as education, health, transport and renewable energy

  • Open space uses such as parks, areas for biodiversity net gain and land to safeguard from flooding.

Submission of a site to the council does not guarantee that it will be allocated or that it will gain planning permission.

Not at the moment. We are currently using the finalised Land Availability Assessment Methodology and the finalised Sustainability Appraisal Methodology to assess the sites that have been submitted and conduct sustainability appraisals of the sites.

Once assessed some sites will not continue to the next stage as they may be considered unsuitable, for example, they may be located entirely in a floodplain.

The sites that pass the initial sifting process will be carried forward into our next consultation stage - Local Plan Further Issues and Options, scheduled for spring/early summer 2024. This will be your first opportunity to comment on specific sites.

You can, however, view the sites that have been submitted so far by looking at our interactive map and spreadsheet. We may receive more sites throughout 2023-24, so you may want to revisit this site to see if any new sites have been added.

Although the main Call for Sites has closed we recognise that circumstances change and some people may still wish to put sites forward for consideration as allocations in the Local Plan Update. A link has been provided so that further sites can be submitted.

Depending upon the date of the submission we do not guarantee that your site will be assessed in time for inclusion in the Further Issues and Options consultation materials scheduled for spring/early summer 2024.

Sites not included in this will be taken into account in the preparation of the Preferred Options consultation scheduled for summer/autumn 2025.

If you want to progress a site ahead of the Local Plan you will need to do so by way of a planning application.

The planning application will be subject to consultation and will be considered on its own merits against the current development plan and material considerations. It should be noted that submitting your site through the call for sites does not guarantee that it will be allocated, or that it will gain planning permission.

To find out more about the pre-application process or submitting a planning application visit our planning webpages.

The next consultation will be the Further Issues and Options consultation which is scheduled for spring/early summer 2024.

This consultation will set out and ask you to comment on:

  • any further issues or topics that we think may be important to address in the district

  • a draft vision and objectives for the Local Plan

  • propose policy options and approaches for the future development of the district

  • the assessments of all the sites submitted through the Call for Sites.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at local.plan@huntingdonshire.gov.uk

Our Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) sets out how we will engage with the community on planning matters.

We will provide updates via our social media accounts.

We will inform town, parish and district councillors in the district so that they can cascade information to their local community where this may be possible. Other methods may include, posters, leaflets, exhibitions and press releases.

It must be noted that the actual methods used may differ depending on the purpose of the engagement exercise and the target audience. We will ensure that government regulation is complied with as an absolute minimum. In the first instance, electronic methods of consultation and engagement will be used.

Yes, Neighbourhood Plans add valuable local scale policy to help with decision-making on planning applications.

All Neighbourhood Plans are required to broadly align with the Development Plan. The Local Plan is still considered up to date and is the Development Plan Document that parish and town councils are advised to comply with. If there is a conflict between policies in the Local Plan or the Neighbourhood Plan the most recently adopted one will take precedence.

Approval to commence an update to the Local Plan was granted on 24 January 2023. The plan is at a very early stage of production - evidence gathering/survey phase and issues consultations concluded on 5 July. As such no development strategy or policy formation has yet to take place and therefore cannot be taken into consideration in the development of Neighbourhood Plans at this time.

If a new Neighbourhood Plan is approved before the Local Plan Update is completed, the town or parish council may wish to consider updating their Neighbourhood Plan afterwards.

 

Local Development Scheme

A replacement Local Development Scheme [PDF, 0.5MB] was approved by Cabinet on 21 March 2023, to accompany preparation and set out the scope of work for the Local Plan Update.

It provides a summary of the plan-making process and an indicative timetable highlighting engagement opportunities to be offered during preparation of the Local Plan Update.

Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report

The Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report sets baseline information for Huntingdonshire to inform the development of sustainability objectives to test the Local Plan against.

Public engagement

There are no consultations currently open for comment.

If you wish to be informed of future Local Plan-related consultations please register on our online consultation system. Once registered you will be notified by email at each stage of consultation and be able to use the system to make comments on the documents published.

Completed consultations

Consultation on a Statement of Community Involvement and Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report ran from 1 February to 15 March 2023.

Consultation on the Land Availability Assessment Methodology and Settlement Hierarchy Methodology ran from 29 March to 10 May 2023.

The Call for Sites ran from 29 March to 7 June 2023. Further details can be found on the Call for Sites webpage.

The Issues Engagement Papers consultations ran from 26 April to 5 July 2023. There were 3 options to help people respond, comments on the consultations can be viewed by visiting the links below: