Borough council to obtain legal advice after minister orders it not to withdraw local plan from examination

Erewash Borough Council is to seek legal advice after the Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Lee Rowley, intervened at the last minute to stop the local authority from withdrawing its Local Plan from examination.

The fate of the plan was due to be discussed at an extraordinary meeting last week (30 November).

Erewash’s new administration had previously described the Local Plan as “out-of-date and unsuitable” and said it aimed to come up with a new blueprint.

However, the Minister of State sent a letter on the same day as the meeting, ordering the council not to take any step to withdraw the plan from examination and report monthly to departmental officials on the progress with the examination.

Rowley said the move was justified, having considered Erewash’s performance against the intervention policy criteria and the statutory test set out in section 27(1) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

The minister’s letter said the applicable criteria were:

• The least progress in plan-making has been made: More than 69% of English Councils have adopted a local plan since Erewash (March 2014). If the Council withdraws the plan, it would be within the 30% of the oldest adopted local plans in the country.
• Policies in plans have not been kept up to date: The adopted local plan is now over nine years old, and it is reasonable to assume, given the age of the plan, that a number of the policies it contains will not be up to date.
• There was a higher housing pressure: The Council is not performing well against the Housing Delivery Test which requires enough houses to come forward within the Borough to adequately meet local housing need. In withdrawing the draft plan, the Council would be further failing to plan for and deliver the homes that people need.
• Intervention would have the greatest impact in accelerating Local Plan production: Considering the average time taken to prepare a local plan is seven years, and we are approaching the phased introduction of a new planning system, withdrawing the plan at this stage will lead to significant further delay whilst a new plan is prepared. The council should proceed with its current plan.
• Wider Planning context: Delays caused by withdrawing the Local Plan could significantly slow down Neighbourhood Plan progress in the area and could also disincentivise other communities from coming forward to start the process.

Erewash, which claims new housing “is slated to be built in the wrong places”, said in a statement it now plans to seek legal advice.