Committee Report: Interim Annual Monitoring Report on UDP
| Report to: | Cabinet Planning Committee Regeneration Panel Environment Panel |
|---|---|
| Date: | 16 June 2005 21 June 2005 27 July 2005 3 August 2005 |
| Subject: | Interim Annual Monitoring Report on UDP |
| Report of: | Director of Planning and Regeneration |
| Contact officer: | Martin Stuart - (01942) 404238 |
| Purpose / summary: | This is the first annual monitoring report on the Replacement Unitary Development Plan which is provided to inform future policy development and in fulfilment of the commitment (at Chapter 4 of the Plan) to publish such a report on an annual basis. It is, however, provided on an interim basis in view of the requirement arising from the new planning system to prepare and submit an annual monitoring report on the Local Development Framework to the Secretary of State in December. |
| Alternative options considered and reason for selecting the one recommended: | It would be possible to not prepare a monitoring report at this stage and await the LDF monitoring report in December. However, it is considered advisable to prepare the report in order to keep a check on the implementation of the Plan policies, to comply with the Government’s plan, monitor and manage approach to housing provision and to meet the commitment to produce such a report. |
| Recommendation / decision: | To note the report. |
| Key Decision: | This report does not involve a key decision. |
| Implications: | |
| Financial: | None |
| Staffing: | From within existing resources |
| Policy: | All UDP policies |
| Equal Opportunities – has a Diversity Impact Assessment been conducted? | No |
| Wards affected: | All |
| Special Interest Members – which have been consulted | None |
Categorisation of the report:
| Discussion leading to a decision | - | Discussion | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | X | Decision | - |
| Sharing for corporate understanding | - | Information | - |
Tracking/Process:
| Consultation | Ward Members | Partners | |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | |
| Panel | Overview & Scrutiny | Cabinet | Council |
Planning – 21.06.05; Regeneration – 27.07.05; Environment – 03.08.05 |
- | 16.06.05 | - |
List of Background Papers in accordance with Section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972:
| Document | Date | File Reference | Place of Inspection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wigan Unitary Development Plan – Revised Deposit Draft Replacement Plan | February 2004 | 32.21 | Planning and Regeneration Department, Civic Buildings, New Market Street |
| Proper Officer | Martin Kimber |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 June 2005 |
1.0 Background
Links
marked with the Adobe Acrobat PDF logo require the free Adobe
Reader software.1.1 Chapter 4 of the Replacement UDP deals with monitoring and review of the plan and lays out the importance of ensuring that the planning framework for the Borough is kept as up-to-date and relevant as possible. The use of information from monitoring is vital to inform any review of the plan and indeed to form the decision as to when planning policies are in need of review or replacement. In line with national guidance contained in Planning Policy Guidance Note 12: Development Plans, the UDP policies have been expressed in a form which will facilitate monitoring and review. In particular, Chapter 4 includes a table listing the strategic Part 1 policies of the Plan and giving a measurable indicator and a target for each of these policies. The monitoring report measures performance against these indicators, where data is available.
1.2 The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires all local planning authorities to make an annual monitoring report to the Secretary of State. This will report on the implementation of the Local Development Scheme and on the extent to which policies of local development documents are being achieved. Such a report will be prepared and presented to Members prior to its submission in December. However, it is considered important in the transition from Unitary Development Plans to Local Development Frameworks to continue, on an interim basis, to produce a UDP monitoring report. This will keep a check on the implementation of the Plan policies, comply with the Government’s plan, monitor and manage approach to housing provision and meet the commitment to produce such a report.
2.0 Proposals
2.1 The Appendix to this report is the annual monitoring report of the Replacement Unitary Development Plan. The format of the report is derived from the Plan itself. Each section is headed by a table showing the individual policy under consideration, the indicator by which its success or effectiveness is to be judged, the target sought for that indicator and the actual value achieved during the year. In this case, the year is 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005. These tables are followed by a commentary section which, where appropriate, provides a background or explanation to the figures.
2.2 It will be noted that some indicators do not include any data under the actual column. These are cases where either the information is not yet available or systems are not yet in place to collect and record it. In future years the full set of data will be collected.
2.3 The information in this report will be included, where relevant, in the Local Development Framework monitoring report to be submitted to the Secretary of State in December.
2.4 It is intended that this monitoring report will be published, placed on the Council’s website and made available to interested parties.
3.0 Alternative Options Considered and Reason for the Recommended Option
3.1 It would be possible to not prepare a monitoring report at this stage and await the LDF monitoring report in December. However, it is considered advisable to prepare the report in order to keep a check on the implementation of the plan policies, to comply with the Government’s plan, monitor and manage approach to housing provision and to meet the commitment to produce such a report.
4.0 Conclusion
4.1 Since this is the first Annual Monitoring Report for the UDP, it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions or take the longer term view for which time-series information would be required. However, the information is important as it sets the baseline from which future trends and changes will be measured. There are also gaps in the available information which it is hoped to remedy in future monitoring reports.
4.2 What the results do show, as would be expected in an up-to-date plan, is that most of the policies seem to be working reasonably well and that appeal decisions are normally decided in line with those policies. The weight given to these policies will of course increase once the plan has been formally adopted.
4.3 Some areas monitored are subject to influences beyond the Council’s direct control. For example, the area of land developed for employment uses on an annual basis (Policy EM1) is subject to movements in the wider economy, whilst the small amount of derelict land reclaimed (Policy EV1) is a reflection of the limited resources made available to the Council from central government for such activity.
4.4 House building rates are also subject to wider influences in terms of house prices and movements in demand for housing. The Council is however able to exert some influence on house building through its policies on land allocation and development and the issuing of planning consents for such development. It is apparent that the level of house building is now dipping towards the average annual rate set out in the UDP and that the proportion of new houses built on previously-developed (brownfield) land is now approaching the UDP’s 80% target, as large greenfield sites granted permission some years ago under previous policy are built out.
4.5 Monitoring reports in future years will be able to draw more firm conclusions than is possible at the present. This will arise not only from the existence of more developed data sources but also from the existence of information over more than one year, from which trends will be evident.