Local Plan Review - Examination Pause Technical Evidence Consultation 2024
Background
In October 2021 Stroud District Council submitted the draft Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination. Hearing sessions commenced in March 2023 and were paused in June 2023 to allow a summer break. The majority of the hearing sessions have already been held and have covered all strategic and local site allocations and most of the policies set out in the draft Local Plan. Details of the Examination are available on the Local Plan Examination webpage and the Examination Library can be viewed in full here.
During the Examination summer break, the Inspectors wrote to the Council on 4 August 2023, ID-010 in the Examination Library, setting out concerns with three areas of soundness:
- The capacity of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), specifically the capacity of M5 Junctions 12 and 14 to accommodate proposed housing growth;
- The proposed passenger train service and bespoke Mobility as a Service transport scheme (MaaS) at Strategic Site Allocation PS36 Sharpness New settlement on the grounds of viability and deliverability.
- The provision of the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the M5 motorway at Strategic Site Allocation PS37 Wisloe New settlement on the grounds of viability and deliverability.
Additional information and a commitment to address the Inspectors’ specific viability and deliverability concerns relating to Strategic Site Allocations PS36 Sharpness new settlement and PS37 Wisloe new settlement were submitted to the Inspectors in September 2023, see Update from the Programme Officer 21.9.23 in the Examination Library.
A Joint Action Plan with National Highways (NH), Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) to address issues relating to the capacity of the SRN was submitted to the Inspectors on 30 November 2023, see Update from the Programme Officer 08.12.23 in the Examination Library.
A further letter from the Inspectors dated 5 February 2024, ID-015 in the Examination Library, confirmed a pause in the Examination until December 2024 to allow the work set out in the Joint Action Plan and additional work relating to PS36 and PS37 to be completed and a six week period of public consultation on the outcomes of the workstreams to be carried out.
The outcomes of this additional work are available to view below and are the subject of this consultation.
Consultation documents
- EB133a - Design and Costing M5 Junction 14 Report
- EB133b - Design and Costing M5 Junctions 12 and 14 Funding Overview
- EB133c - Design and Costing M5 Junction 12 Stage 2 Optioneering Report
- EB134 - Housing Delivery
- EB135 - M5 Junctions 12 and 14 Scenarios
- EB136 - PS36 Sharpness New Settlement
- EB136 Appendix 1 - TN001-M5 J14 VISSIM
- EB136 Appendix 2 - TN002 Trip Gen
- EB136 Appendix 3 - Sharpness Branch Line SOC
- EB136 Appendix 4 - TN03 - Updated Research on Mobility-as-a-Service
- EB136 Appendix 5 - TN001 - Update to Sharpness Vale DRT- Coach Services
- EB136 Appendix 6 - Update to M5J14 Technical Notepost NH consultation
- EB137 - PS37 Wisloe New Settlement
Consultation period
The consultation will run for six weeks from Monday 9 September 2024 until 5pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024. Only comments received during this period will be considered.
Who can respond?
In their letter dated 5 February 2024, the Inspectors stated that only parties who submitted duly made representations at the Regulation 19 consultation stage of the Plan are invited and eligible to respond.
If you are unsure whether you are eligible, please contact the programme officer Charlotte Glancy at bankssolutionsuk@gmail.com Tel: 01903 776601 M: +447519 628064
How to respond
In order to make a representation, you will need to fill in an online response form:
This is the easiest way to respond as the Inspectors need all the responses in the same format and in one document.
If you need help filling in the response form or accessing the documents please contact the Planning Strategy Team via local.plan@stroud.gov.uk or by phoning 01453 766321.
If you are unable to use the above form for any reason, please contact the Planning Strategy Team who will provide other accessible ways to respond.
If you have any questions about the Examination process, please contact the independent Programme Officer Charlotte Glancy at bankssolutionsuk@gmail.com or Tel: 01903 776601 M: +447519 628064
Next steps
At the end of the consultation, the Council will summarise the duly-made consultation comments and provide responses to any issues raised working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders. This will be submitted to the Inspectors on 5 December 2024. At that date, the Examination in Public (EiP) is considered to have re-started and the pause is complete. The Inspectors have indicated that hearing sessions will then recommence in Spring 2025. The hearing sessions will cover the new consultation material and the remaining sessions on Retail, Employment, Housing Supply, Viability and Monitoring.
Previous stages of the Local Plan Review process
- Stage 1: Issues and Options paper
- Stage 2: Emerging Strategy paper
- Stage 3: Draft Local Plan
- Stage 4: Pre-submission Draft Local Plan
- Stage 5: Local Plan Examination
Further information
If you would like more information, please contact the Planning Strategy Team.
Email: local.plan@stroud.gov.uk