Issue - items at meetings - Adoption of Part 2 Local Plan for Kettering

To progress the Kettering Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan to

adoption in order to provide an up-to-date development plan

for making planning decisions and to guide development in

Kettering.

The Executive recommended to Council:

a) That the Kettering Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan (set out in Appendix A to the report), be adopted;

b) Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Executive Director for Place and Economy, to make any further Additional Modifications to the Kettering Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan or its accompanying Policies Map that relate exclusively to factual updates, grammatical corrections and formatting for the purposes of publishing the plan to presentation standard; and

c) Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Executive Director for Place and Economy, to prepare and publish the Adoption Statement (draft as Appendix F to the report) and the Sustainability Appraisal Statement and fulfil any other duties required under Regulation 26 and 35 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

(Reasons for Decisions)

· The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that the planning system should be genuinely plan-led. Succinct and up-to-date plans should provide a positive vision for the future of each area and a framework for addressing housing needs and other economic, social, and environmental priorities.

· The Plan drawn up by Kettering Borough Council was subject to thorough examination and has been modified as a result of recommendations made by the Inspector, as set out at Appendix C to this report. The Council also made non-substantive modifications to the plan during the course of the examination, which are set out at Appendix D to this report. Corresponding changes to the policies map are set out in Appendix E.

· In the event that the Plan is adopted for the Kettering area of North Northamptonshire, it will supersede all of the existing saved policies and allocations in the 1995 Local Plan for Kettering Borough.

Councillor David Brackenbury, Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration introduced a report that sought Executive recommendation to Full Council that the Kettering Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan be adopted in order to provide an up-to-date development plan for making planning decisions and to guide development in Kettering.

Councillor Brackenbury congratulated all those involved in contributing to the substantial planning document before members that would form a vital piece of planning policy to sit beneath the Joint Core Strategy. Councillor Brackenbury stated his disappointment that the Planning Inspector had deleted from the document a number of historical and visually important local green spaces, however, it was noted that many of these sites would be protected by other legislation or existing policies.

Members echoed the comments of Councillor Brackenbury and noted that although the green spaces referred to had been removed from the document, they were not rendered unimportant.

RESOLVED:-