Previous updates about the Local Plan

Statement regarding the Amber Valley Local Plan - 20 December 2023

In response to comments made by the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP in a speech on 19 December 2023. Amber Valley Borough Council has been provided with 12 weeks in which to submit to the government an updated timetable for the submission of its draft Local Plan. However, as the Council has already held an extraordinary meeting on 13 December, where it approved both the pre-submission Local Plan for further consultation and an up to date timetable, it is believed that the Council has already met the government’s requirement.

The new Local Plan

Amber Valley Borough Council resolved on 8 June 2022 to agree a preferred spatial strategy for housing and economic growth and draft policies for the purposes of consultation and engagement.

Accordingly, Amber Valley Borough Council consulted on the preferred spatial strategy for housing and economic growth and draft policies between 15 July 2022 and 2 September 2022. A total of 1,043 representations were received in response to the consultation.

The preferred spatial strategy and draft policies and a summary of the representations received can be viewed below:

• Preferred spatial strategy for housing and economic growth and draft policies
• Summary of representations in response to consultation

Local plan update

Following the resolutions of Full Council on 1 March 2023 in relation to the new Local Plan, the borough council remains committed to progressing the Local Plan through to adoption as soon as possible.

However, the borough council has recently benefitted from a Planning Inspectorate advisory meeting. The purpose of such a meeting is to provide local planning authorities with advice on their emerging plan and its evidence base and to help them prepare effectively for the examination of the plan. In order to preserve the independence of the examining Inspector, the Inspector conducting such an advisory meeting will not be the Inspector who will then be appointed to carry out the examination of the plan.

The advisory Inspector has made a number of key recommendations following the advisory meeting, which impact on the process to take the new Local Plan forward on the basis of the position agreed by Full Council on 1 March 2023. A summary of the key recommendations is set out below:-

• The plan period for the new Local Plan should be extended to at least 2040, given that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that strategic policies in local plans should look ahead over a minimum period of 15 year from the date of adoption.
• The borough council should not proceed to the publication of the Pre-Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19) until all relevant evidence is available, given the legal requirement that local planning authorities should not formally submit a local plan until they consider it to be ready for examination.
• The borough council should continue to work closely with Derby, South Derbyshire and other relevant bodies to consider Derby’s unmet housing need and seek to reach agreement on how this will be met, but that there is no need to delay the new Local Plan to wait for a Derby HMA strategy to be completed which if agreed, could inform a future review of the Local Plan.
• If the borough council is able to publish a further update of the housing land supply position in Amber Valley, as at 1 April 2023, the base date for the new Local Plan could be amended to that date.
• The borough council should identify one or more suitable sites to meet identified needs for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople, given the expectations of national policy.
• The policies in the new Local Plan, including proposed housing and economic growth sites, should be informed by a proportionate assessment of viability and this assessment should therefore be completed before the publication of the Pre-Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19).
• The borough council should establish a clear justification for the continued protection of land between Alfreton, Somercotes and Swanwick through an appropriate policy in the new Local Plan and why other national and local policies restricting development in this location would not be sufficient.

A report from the Leader of the Council regarding the Local Plan can be seen in the 'Minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 19 July 2023 (to be confirmed at the next Full Council meeting scheduled for 20 September 2023)'. The minutes (Agenda Item 2) can be accessed through the following link.

• Leader of the Council report (on the new Local Plan)

Contact the team directly on 01773 570222 or email enquiry@ambervalley.gov.uk