Council seeking legal advice after Government directs it not to withdraw its local plan from examination

Spelthorne Borough Council is to seek legal advice after the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities intervened in the council's local plan process amid concerns that the local authority was set to withdraw its emerging local plan from examination.

Despite the intervention, councillors voted to continue pausing the passage of the council's local plan to wait for publication of the Government's response to its consultation on the National Planning Policy  Framework (NPPF).

Members were read a letter from Housing Minister Rachel Maclean during an extraordinary meeting on Thursday (14 September), which set out the department's reasoning for directing the council not to withdraw its local plan under section 27 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

The letter stated: "Secretary of State's reason for making this direction is to give the people of Spelthorne the best chance of having a sound local plan adopted in the near future, protecting the area in which they live from speculative development."

Under section 27(2)(b) of the 2004 Act, the letter directed Spelthorne to: "Not to take any step to withdraw the plan from examination and report monthly to my officials on the progress with the examination. In accordance with section 27(8) of the 2004 Act, the Secretary of State's reason for making this direction is to avoid the unnecessary additional delay to having an up to-date plan in place and additional expense that withdrawing the plan and preparing a new plan would cause."

But councillors in the meeting voted to extend the pause in the local plan's examination timetable until the proposed changes to the NPPF have been published "before determining the next steps and take immediate legal advice to confirm the validity of the minister's directive".

The council has since written to the planning inspector examining the local plan to request a further pause.

The NPPF consultation ended in March of this year. The Government was due to publish the outcome and NPPF revisions in Spring 2023, but this is yet to happen.

The announcement of the consultation resulted in numerous councils pausing their plan-making processes in order to consider the proposed changes to planning policy.

The leader of Spelthorne Borough Council, Cllr Joanne Sexton, said: "I understand that emotions are running high in relation to the progress of the Local Plan, and I am disappointed with the Government's late intervention a few hours before the scheduled meeting. This administration will respond to the Government's letter once we have sought legal advice.

"It is our duty to leave a legacy of thriving communities, not schemes that do not complement our area, and make our Spelthorne better together. I want to reassure all residents, in the name of local democracy, that this council will work to ensure we have a Local Plan that works for everyone in our borough."

Adam Carey