Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration presented a report on the review of the Council’s Local Plan, which sets out the Council’s and its partners’ plans for the Borough over the next 15 years and the policies to deliver that change.

The Cabinet Member advised that the current Local Plan was adopted in 2010 and the Issues and Options report represented the first stage in a two-year process of review.  The new Local Plan would look at the implications of the vision to deliver 35,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs across seven growth hubs by 2030 and the infrastructure that would be needed, such as transport, schools and healthcare, to support that level of growth. 

The Cabinet Member commented on a number of specific issues covered in the Issues and Options report, which included the expectation that certain industrial sites that were unlikely to attract investment and create new jobs could be made available for retail or housing purposes, as new businesses placed less reliance on industrial areas.  The report also focused on the importance of promoting successful communities through new infrastructure and reference was made to the creation of two new stations linked to Crossrail in the Chadwell Heath area and the London Overground line extension to Barking Riverside.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Schools referred to new nursery provision in the Borough and was also pleased to note that the important role of the B&D College and The Adult College in addressing the skills gap would be properly reflected in the Local Plan documentation when it was presented for final approval in two years’ time. 

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health acknowledged the role of the Local Plan in establishing the principles by which future planning proposals and applications would be determined and suggested that the appropriate level of flexibility needed to be built in to the documentation to avoid the need for an entire review every five years.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration undertook to discuss with officers how to make it a more ‘live’ document.

The Chief Executive concluded that the Local Plan was an essential component in the achievement of the Ambition 2020 and Growth Commission objectives and he stressed the importance of not getting diverted from that path.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree the Local Plan Issues and Options report at Appendix 1 to the report, for public consultation;

(ii)  Agree the Local Plan Local Development Scheme at Appendix 2 to the report;

(iii)  Agree the Local Plan Statement of Community Involvement at Appendix 3 to the report; and

(iv)  Agree the Local Plan Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report at Appendix 4 to the report.