Minister intervenes after council pauses publication of plan for Regulation 19 consultation

Pennycook has directed Southend to provide the latest draft Regulation 19 Local Plan which the council has determined not to publish, and all available evidence base documents associated with the draft Plan.

In his letter, the Minister said he had been “disappointed” to learn of the council’s determination not to proceed.

Pennycook said: “The statements made by the Council, including in correspondence received by the Department, suggest that, despite the significant work undertaken to reach a stage where a Regulation 19 plan is ready for publication, there is insufficient support to proceed without significant changes to the draft Plan.

“Given that work on the Plan has been ongoing since at least 2019 and has already been subject to multiple consultations and changes, it is difficult to conceive of how substantial amendments might be made at this advanced stage of the process without jeopardising the Council’s ability submit the Plan before the deadline for the legacy plan-making system.”

The Minister added that he considered the council’s delay to publish the Regulation 19 Local Plan for consultation “to be clear evidence of a failure to do something necessary in connection with the preparation of the plan, particularly taking into account the very limited time left to prepare a plan in the legacy system”.

“The resulting delays place the Council’s prospects of submitting a plan for examination by December 2026 under considerable threat. Taken together, I consider that this meets the statutory test for intervention.”

He added that he had considered the criteria laid out in the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) for intervention.

Pennycook noted that Southend’s current Local Plan was adopted in 2007. “The existing Plan is almost 19 years old, meaning the policies it contains are likely to be out of date. There is therefore a pressing need for the Council to adopt an up-to-date local plan.”

The Minister also pointed out that Southend had “consistently delivered below the target set by the standard method. The latest Housing Delivery Test (HDT) score of 20% in 2025 places the Council among the poorest performers nationally and engages the presumption in favour of sustainable development.”

He directed Southend under section 27(2)(b) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase 2004 Act to provide him with the latest draft Regulation 19 which the council has determined not to publish, and all available evidence base documents associated with the draft Plan.

“Pursuant to s.27(8) of the 2004 Act, the Secretary of State has issued a direction under s.27 in order to ensure that the Plan is afforded the best possible opportunity to be adopted under the legacy plan-making system.”

The information must be provided by the council within two weeks of the date of the letter (4 September).

“Following consideration of the evidence, I will determine whether to make use of further directions under section 21 or 27 of the 2004 Act should this be necessary to drive forward the delivery of a satisfactory plan,” Pennycook said.

Southend-on-Sea City Council has been approached for comment.

Announcing the decision last month to pause bringing forward the draft Local Plan for Regulation 19 consultation, its Leader, Cllr Daniel Cowan, said: "We've listened carefully to residents and councillors throughout this process, balancing strongly held views, the needs of our city and the national requirements placed upon us. Our draft Local Plan seeks to meet those requirements, but doing so inevitably means considering difficult compromises.

"We know that there isn't currently a majority for the draft Plan, so we intend to use the time to listen, look again at what can reasonably be changed and try to find a way forward that can command majority support. That is the responsible thing to do and is how we have always approached this process.

"This doesn't mean Southend doesn't need a new Local Plan. Quite the opposite. Our current planning policies are badly out of date and every delay means the stronger protections we want around HMOs, infrastructure and inappropriate development take longer to put in place. That is what is at stake.”

Cllr Cowan added: “There are difficult choices involved and there isn’t a version of the Local Plan that can simply ignore national planning law or housing need. But residents also need confidence that when development happens, the infrastructure will come with it. After decades of seeing development without enough supporting infrastructure, we understand why that confidence needs to be earned.

“We’ll now ask the Government for more time, continue those conversations and see whether we can find a route through this. Our aim remains an up-to-date Local Plan that protects Southend, provides the homes our residents need and has enough support to actually be delivered.”