September 9, 2017

Chiltern District Council (CDC) has announced on its website that the next Consultation on the Draft Local Plan anticipated to start in October/November 2017 is likely to be delayed until March/April 2018.

Reasons given by CDC are:

  • The Councils have only recently (July 2017) been able to agree a level of unmet housing need from Chiltern and South Bucks to be accommodated as part of the emerging Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (5,725 to 2033);
  • The Councils received an unprecedented number of response to its two public consultations, taking time to process and consider.
  • The Government, through its Housing White Paper and subsequent and anticipated publications, is introducing changes to the national planning system. Although plan production should not wait for this, it could have significant implications and once introduced will need to be considered (for example the Government expects to publish a national methodology for calculating housing need in September 2017 which could result in a different housing need figure which the emerging Chiltern and South Bucks will need to use);
  • Additional evidence base work has had to be undertaken while others like Transport Modelling and Green Belt Assessment has taken longer than first expected; and
  • Some duty to co-operate discussions are unlikely to be able to be resolved in the time needed to publish a Draft Local Plan for consultation in October/November 2017.

The delayed consultation will also include publication of a Green Belt Development Options Appraisal which will identify strategic Green Belt options which officers are likely to be recommending to the Councils to be removed from the Green Belt and included in the emerging Draft Local Plan as development proposals, and a draft emerging Infrastructure Delivery Schedule.