Information
Consultation Calendar
Opportunities for community involvement in the creation of local
planning policy documents and other key events are listed.
Public
Consultations
Sign up to the Council's new e-consultation facility to be
notified of any upcoming consultations and to respond to
consultations online.
Local Plan
Bath & North East Somerset’s Local Plan including minerals
and waste policies is the primary basis for deciding planning
applications in the district. It sets out policies which guide how
and where development should take place up to the year 2011. The
Local Plan was adopted on 18th October 2007.
Local Development Framework
The Local Development Framework is the portfolio of local
development documents that provides the framework for delivering
the spatial strategy for the district. The documents which
will make up Bath & North East Somerset's Local Development
Framework are as follows:
- Core Strategy
- Site Allocations Development Plan Document
- Joint Waste Development Plan Document
- Statement of Community Involvement
- Local Development Scheme
- Annual Monitoring Reports
- Supplementary Planning Documents
Sustainability Appraisals will be carried out for all
Development Plan Documents and Supplementary Planning
Documents.
The Local Development Scheme provides details of which documents
will be prepared as well as a timetable for their
production.
Joint Replacement Structure Plan
The saved policies from the Joint Replacement Structure Plan are
also part of the Development Plan for Bath & North East
Somerset. Direction has been received from the Secretary of State
to extend these policies for three years beyond 27 September 2007.
A list of saved policies can be seen via the link above.
Regional Planning Policy
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has
announced her response to the Examination in Public recommendations
on the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The RSS contains
housing targets for the west of the England area up until 2026 as
well as the planning policies needed to respond to the challenge of
climate change.
The main findings that effect Bath and North East Somerset are
as follows:
- Increase in the overall housing requirement for Bath &
North East Somerset for the period 2006 to 2026 from 15,500 new
homes in the draft RSS to 21,300
- Expansion of Keynsham to strengthen its role as a service
centre through the provision of 3,000 additional homes
- Increase in the size of the urban extension to south east
Bristol from 6,000 new homes in draft RSS to 9,500 homes (8,000
within Bath & North East Somerset and 1,500 within Bristol City
Council area)
- Increase in the size of the urban extension to Bath from 1,500
new homes in draft RSS to 2,000 homes
- Need to plan for employment growth of about 20,200 additional
jobs within the Bath Travel to Work Area including the provision of
about 39 hectares of employment land
- The Council needs to identify sites to meet the specific needs
of different groups of gypsies and travellers and travelling
showpeople by providing pitches and plots as follows: Gypsies &
travellers – 19 residential pitches and 20 transit pitches by
2011; and Travelling showpeople – 51 plots across the West of
England area comprising the unitary authorities of Bath
& North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South
Gloucestershire.
Bath & North East Somerset Council Cabinet Member for
Planning, Councillor Charles Gerrish (Conservative, Keynsham
North), said: “We understand completely the need for more housing
in our area, especially affordable housing, however, we are
disappointed with this news as it represents a significant increase
in our housing targets. With our West of England partners we
proposed a target of 15,500 houses in Bath & North East
Somerset; this was increased by over 3,000 following the
“Examination in Public” panel Chair’s report and now the Secretary
of State has announced a further increase of 2,500 houses. We
have real doubts over capacity to deliver such an increase over and
above the reasonable projections. We also have concerns about
the reality of the proposed rate of growth of employment in the
Bath travel to work area. The current state of the housing market,
coupled with our particular heritage and environmental constraints,
means that we will find this target unsustainable and will require
significant infrastructure developments to be well coordinated with
housing growth”
Bath and North East Somerset Council encourages local residents
to write directly to the Government to give their view about the
proposed changes made by the Secretary of State in response to the
Examination in Public. This is the best way for Government
Ministers to understand the concerns of local communities and the
objections local people may have. The Council will be discussing
its formal response to the proposed changes at a council meeting in
September.
Local residents can read the full announcement by the Secretary
of State by visiting the Government
Office for South West website
Details for responding to the changes made by the Secretary of
State are as follows: The Government Office for the South West
requests that wherever possible comments are submitted
on-line via the portal they have set up.
Alternatively comments can be submitted by using the form which
can also be downloaded and printed from the Government Office
portal (see address above) and sent
By post to: Regional Planning Team, Government Office for
the South West, 2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6ED
By E-Mail to: rssconsult@gosw.gsi.gov.uk
By Fax to: 0117 900 1914
History
- The purpose of the RSS is to establish the long term
development needs of the South West and where the development
should go in the context of the challenge of climate
change.
- At the Examination in 2007 Bath & North East Somerset
accepted the need for the development of 15,500 new homes in the
District by 2026 but expressed concerns over the impact on the
World Heritage site of Bath & its setting. The Council
sought to ensure that new development should be aligned with
investment in necessary infrastructure such as transport and social
facilities
Next steps
- Bath & North East Somerset is due to consider its
response at its meeting on 11th September 2008.
- The deadline for comments on the Proposed Changes to the
Regional Spatial Strategy is 5 pm on Friday 17th October.
The Government will then consider any comments received
and is scheduled to adopt the finalised RSS by the end of this year
or early in 2009.
- All districts in the south west will have to publish Core
Strategies which will set out how they intend to carry forward the
requirements set out in the RSS. A Public Consultation on the
Core Strategy for Bath & North East Somerset is scheduled for
the end of 2008.
Review of Additional Pitch Requirements for Gypsies and
Travellers
The Examination in Public (EiP) into the provision of
additional pitches for Gypsies and Travellers in the South West
took place on 4 to 6 March 2008. An Independent Panel and
invited participants tested the soundness of the proposed policy
for additional pitch requirements to 2011. The EiP also
provided an opportunity to have a structured discussion on issues
arising from the proposed policy.
The RSS
Panel Report on the review of additional pitch requirements for
gypsies and travellers has been issued by Government Office for
the South West. The key implications for Bath & North
East Somerset are:
Permanent Pitches
The residential/permanent pitch provision for Bath & North
East Somerset recommended by the Panel is for 19 pitches in
accordance with the Council's representation to the Draft Policy
and the findings of the
West of England Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment
(WoE GTAA).
Transit Pitches
The Panel does not accept the Council’s argument that since the
GTAA indicated a primary need for residential pitches it would be
premature to estimate transit needs before residential ones and
this supposition has no foundation in
Circular 01/2006 ‘Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan
Sites’. The Panel concluded therefore that in the absence of
any evidence to support the suggested nil provision, the figure of
20 pitches for transit provision in Bath & North East Somerset
should be retained. This figure reflects the findings of the
WoE GTAA.
A separate
table setting out the recommended provision for the South West
Region has also been issued for information.
Overall provision post 2011
The Panel recommends that a 3% compound rate is applied to
Policy GT1 for the period post 2011 to give a basis for DPD
allocations and state that further guidance on allocations can
follow in the next Review of RSS.
Travelling Showpeople
The Panel recommended Policy GT1 should make reference to the
needs of Travelling Showpeople and that the accompanying text
should be expanded to give interim figures at the
County/Sub-regional level (51 pitches for the WoE - as per the WoE
GTAA). The Panel states that if these figures are
incorporated in the Proposed Changes there will be an opportunity
for further consultation on them. The Panel endorse the
transitional approach set out in paras 36-39 of
Circular 04/2007 ‘Planning for Travelling Showpeople’.
The WoE GTAA recommends one yard to meet the needs of
Travelling Showpeople in Bath & North East Somerset.
Next Stages
The pitch requirements for Gypsies and Travellers will be
incorporated in the Proposed Changes to the draft RSS which should
be published summer 2008. There will then be a 12 week period
of consultation on the Proposed Changes.
The Council will consider the proposed changes and formally
submit comments on them to the Secretary of State.
Following consideration of comments on the proposed
changes the Secretary of State is expecting to publish the
final RSS in late 2008
Associated Information
Adopted Supplementary Planning
Documents
Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) and Supplementary
Planning Guidance (SPG) that have been adopted by the Council are
listed.
Key Studies
The Council has a responsibility to manage, develop and analyse
comprehensive survey and monitoring information, covering a wide
range of social, economic and environmental matters that affect the
district. Key studies which have been undertaken are listed.
For information about studies which have been commissioned or
are underway contact the Planning Policy team.
Sustainable
Construction Checklist
Link to guidance on sustainable construction and voluntary
checklist to be submitted alongside full or outline planning
applications.
Transport Policy
Find out more about transport policy in the district.
