The Committee received a report on the Local Plan Partial Update. The report sought approval from the Committee to conduct a consultation on the scope and content of the Partial Update.

The report explained that the Reading Borough Local Plan had been adopted in 2019 and that there was a statutory requirement to undertake a review of the Local Plan within five years of its adoption. To comply with this requirement, a Local Plan Review had been conducted which had identified the need to undertake a Partial Update. At the meeting held on 23March 2023 the Committee had agreed to proceed with a Partial Update according to the timetable set out within the Local Development Scheme (LDS) (Minute 36 refers). This included a ‘Regulation 18’ consultation on the scope and content of the Partial Update that would begin in November or December 2023.

The report therefore recommended that the Committee approve a ‘Regulation 18’ consultation on the scope and content of the Local Plan Partial Update to take place between November 2023 and January 2024. The proposed consultation document was attached to the report Appendix 1.

The scope and content consultation document sought views on the proposed approach to updating those policies that formed part of the Local Plan, including matters such as the overall provision of housing as well as initially consulting on the sites that had been put forward for consideration for development. The consultation document did not include specific draft policies at this current stage, instead it outlined the proposed approach for updating each of the policies within Local Plan Partial Update and therefore asked targeted questions to garner stakeholders’ views on the proposed direction of travel. The results of consultation would be used to inform the next stage of the Local Plan Partial Update, the pre-submission draft, planned for August 2024.

The report explained that there had been a variety of changes made to national policy, including a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in July 2021 and an updated version of the standard methodology for assessing housing need, which placed a particular emphasis on the largest urban areas (including Reading) to deliver more housing which was the main reason for needing to conduct the Partial Update.

The scope and content consultation document also included proposals for additional sites for development or other uses. The consultation sought views on the potential inclusion of all additional sites that had been nominated through the “call for sites”. The report emphasised that the Council had not yet decided on whether or not the sites should be included as part of the Partial Update but that the consultation was the only opportunity to consult on all the sites prior to the production of the full draft document. The report stated that many of the sites in the consultation document might ultimately not be considered suitable for inclusion when the full draft Partial Update was produced. The consultation document therefore included substantial caveats, but nevertheless afforded a vital opportunity for community involvement and to obtain feedback to ensure that any subsequent decision made about the inclusion or exclusion of the sites was as robust as possible.

The report also recommended that some small amendments be made to the agreed Local Development Scheme (LDS). The proposed changes mainly affected the timetable for the production of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), namely the Biodiversity and Natural Environment SPD, the Town Centre Public Realm Strategy SPD, and the Sustainable Transport and Parking SPD. The changes did not alter the timetable for undertaking the Partial Update. The LDS timetable had been amended to ensure that pre-consultation draft versions of the SPDs could be submitted to future meetings of the Committee in 2024. A tracked changes version of the LDS containing the new proposed timescales was attached to the report at Appendix 2.

Resolved –

(1)           That the Local Plan Partial Update Consultation on Scope and Content, as attached at Appendix 1, be approved for consultation;

(2)           That the Assistant Director for Planning, Transport and Public Protection be authorised to make any minor amendments necessary to the Local Plan Partial Update Consultation on Scope and Content in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Planning and Assets, prior to the consultation;

(3)           That the amended Local Development Scheme, as attached at Appendix 2, be agreed;