Agenda item

To approve the Main Modifications Tewkesbury Borough Plan, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report (including proposed modifications to the Policies Map), and to approve commencement of public consultation alongside the Additional Modifications and Sustainability Appraisal/Habitat Regulations Assessment and to delegate to the Head of Development Services, in consultation with Lead Member for the Built Environment, to make the correction of any minor errors such as spelling, grammar, typographical and formatting changes that do not affect the substantive content of the plan. 

35.1           The report of the Planning Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 134-259, set out the schedule of Main Modifications to the Tewkesbury Borough Plan following its Examination and sought approval of the plan for public consultation.

35.2           In introducing the report, the Planning Policy Manager explained that, following the Examination in Public, the Council had received the Inspector’s report which set out a number of recommended Main Modifications for consultation. The Council’s Borough Plan had been prepared over the last number of years and had been submitted to the Secretary of State in May 2020. It was the second tier plan of the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) with the JCS being the strategic plan. The Examination had taken place in February/March 2021 and a letter received from the Inspector in June had endorsed a lot of what the Council had put forward but included some modifications to make the plan sound. The next stage was to undertake a public consultation on the Main Modifications and, once complete, any representations made would be sent to the Inspector for consideration; the Inspector would then issue the final report which was the point at which the Plan could be recommended for adoption.

35.3           The Chair of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan Working Group proposed the recommendations in the report and thanked all of the Officers and Members involved for their hard work in putting the Plan together. The proposal was seconded and the thanks reiterated.

35.4           Referring to Page No. 164, a Member felt that the allocation in the Plan known as MM8 could be a real problem in the Mitton area with traffic congestion and flooding concerns and he would like to remove those 500 dwellings from the list. In response, the Borough Solicitor confirmed that, if amendments were made to the Plan at this stage, the Council would have to go back to an earlier stage in the planning process. Concerns like this could be raised during the consultation and they could then be considered by the Inspector as part of the process. The Member was strongly of the view that the 500 dwellings should be removed and the shortfall absorbed into the Garden Town project rather than adding a site in an area which was, in his view, unsustainable. The Head of Development Services explained that the Plan had been through the Examination and the Main Modifications proposed were needed to make the plan sound. Any changes made now would mean the Plan would no longer be sound and the Council would have to work through again from an earlier stage in the process to make it sound. In addition, the Garden Town was a strategic allocation in the JCS and therefore not included in the Borough Plan and it was not possible to substitute one for the other. The Member nevertheless proposed the deletion of the Mitton site from the Borough Plan and that proposal was seconded. In response, the Chief Executive confirmed that Councillors and members of the public could make comments on the Plan through the consultation process and that would be the best way of putting any changes forward; he strongly advised the Council not to amend the Plan at this stage. Upon being put to the vote, the proposal to remove the Mitton site of 500 dwellings was lost.

35.5           Accordingly, it was proposed, seconded and

                  RESOLVED          1. That the Main Modifications Tewkesbury Borough Plan be                                 approved for public consultation, as set out in Appendix 2 to                                   the report (including the proposed modifications to the                                                polices map), alongside the schedule of Additional                                                     Modifications and Sustainability Appraisal/Habitat                                           Regulations Assessment.

2. That authority be delegated to the Head of Development Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to correct any minor errors such as spelling, grammar, typographical and formatting changes that did not affect the substantive content of the Plan.