Elmbridge Local Plan should reflect needs after COVID-19 Pandemic
Elmbridge Local Plan should reflect needs after COVID-19 Pandemic
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a delay in the Local Plan timetable for Elmbridge. The current timetable outlined that a draft new Local Plan would be sent to Council in July 2020, before a wider viewing by Elmbridge residents in September 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted that schedule.
Unfortunately, external consultants and other partners who would have provided analysis and technical details for the plan, have either been furloughed or are unable to continue this work. It is not clear when they can restart and as a result, we will not meet our original timetable, nor can we establish a new timetable.
Councillor Karen Randolph, Portfolio Holder for Planning Services said: “Due to the current uncertainty the council is not in a position to set a revised timetable for Elmbridge’s new Local Plan.”
She added: “Although the full impact of the changed circumstances and the economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic will not be known for many months, probably years, the council still has to produce a Local Plan if it is not to lose all control over future development in Elmbridge.”
Last week, 7 May 2020, the Leader of Elmbridge Borough Council, Cllr Stuart Selleck, wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, expressing his desire that any new Local Plan should consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: “…the importance of good design, of space standards and well-designed homes that function for its occupants – allowing for home working with good quality outdoor amenity space. It (COVID-19 pandemic) has also made us aware of the importance and the impact of the wider environment that we live in, our well-designed streets and public spaces…”
The Local Plan has a great impact on the life of Elmbridge residents, it ensures we can control development in the borough for the benefit of all our residents and now more than ever, it is needed to help plan for the future – a future that may see more working from home, less commuting, less reliance on cars and more cycling and walking.
With this in mind, we will review all the work to date on the Elmbridge Local Plan to ensure that it positively shapes Elmbridge for a time beyond the pandemic, one that continues to allow Elmbridge to thrive and its residents to cherish our green spaces, independent shops and businesses, and our great schools and community.
Cllr Randolph concluded: “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so much sadness and disruption to our lives. While we wait for a time when we can be reunited with friends and family, our residents can be assured that we are working in the background to make sure that Elmbridge continues to be a great place to live and work.”
Statement from Cllr Karen Randolph
Update on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Local Plan
The pandemic is having an impact on the current timetable (known as the Local Development Scheme – LDS) for producing the council’s Local Plan. The council’s timetable was based on Officers being in a position to submit a draft local plan to Cabinet in June and to the full Council in July. It included a final public consultation in September.
Unfortunately, a number of external consultants and infrastructure providers have had to furlough or repurpose their staff in response to the pandemic. As a result, they have not been able to submit their reports or inform the council when they will be able to submit them. Due to the current uncertainty it is not clear how long their staff will be furloughed or repurposed and therefore, at present, the council is not in a position to set a revised timetable.
Although the full impact of the changed circumstances and the economic challenges from COVID-19 will not be known for many months, probably years, the council still has to produce a Local Plan if it is not to lose all control over future development in Elmbridge. However the government is maintaining that the current crisis cannot be used as a reason to delay the Local Plan. We will be writing to the government with our concerns and seeking clarification about the present situation.
Our current experiences are highlighting the importance of, amongst other things, ensuring that new homes will be able to accommodate residents’ future needs. Previous changes (the development of internet shopping, the financial crash of 2008, the decline of our high streets, the climate change agenda to name but a few) have all had, and continue to have, an impact on the built environment. The present challenges are expected to have an even greater impact. It is therefore essential that the new Local Plan allows for the development of innovative and imaginative solutions. For example, it will need to reflect changes in working patterns, and changes to commuting and its impact on traffic.
We have therefore asked the planning officers to review their work to date on the draft Local Plan in light of the pandemic. We need to make sure that it will provide the council and the people of Elmbridge with a Plan capable of meeting the range of new challenges we are likely to be facing when this crisis eases, and the consequences are clearer.
Karen Randolph
Portfolio Holder for Planning Services
On Behalf of the RA/Lib Dem Joint Administration
Date published: 1 May 2020
Letter from the Leader of the Council (7 May 2020)
Letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the long term future of planning.
“Dear Secretary of State, I am writing further to our letter dated 27 January 2020. I fully appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic will (quite rightly) be the focus of your Ministry’s resources. However, my queries relate to the pandemic and how Local Authorities should seek to reflect the long-term changes to the way our residents will live and work because of the virus.
As people take stock and reflect on how and where we live during this time it has highlighted several key issues and objectives that need to be reflected in the NPPF, the upcoming White Paper and emerging Local Plans. Most notably the importance of good design, of space standards and well-designed homes that function for its occupants – allowing for home working with good quality outdoor amenity space. It has also made us aware of the importance and the impact of the wider environment that we live in, our well-designed streets and public spaces. How lucky we are in Elmbridge to have parks, commons, heaths and woods to take our daily exercise. Most of these assets are located in the Green Belt and are under constant threat of development. Yet they are providing the lifeline for residents to endure the social distancing restrictions, helping to sustain our resident’s health and mental well-being. The closing of our town and village centres has reinforced our desires to protect them as valued hubs for our community. The benefits of working closer to home, living more sustainably along with the importance of our existing businesses to our local economy have also been reinforced.
The pandemic has also impacted our timetable for the production of the Local Plan. Most of our consultants and infrastructure providers have either furloughed their staff or redirected resources. I have therefore asked officers to use this time to review the Local Plan evidence base documents and policy directions to ensure the plan will enable us to future proof our local communities. We are also exploring the positive impact the reduction in travel has had on carbon emissions and the wider environment. We need to capture ways to foster these benefits to help achieve the ambition to be carbon neutral.
Do you foresee any changes to NPPF in light of the pandemic? The current guidance on social distancing could not be more at odds with the previous Government messaging to build and live in increasing densities to accommodate a disproportionate amount of growth within the urban areas. All to meet an arbitrary target given to local authorities without consideration for their individual characteristic, opportunities or constraints.
As raised in my earlier letter I am increasingly worried by the Inspector’s application of Duty to Cooperate. I am watching with interest the outcome of the Sevenoaks examination and I am concerned by the link the inspector has made between not meeting the Government’s housing target and Duty to Cooperate. The Duty to Cooperate and Statements of Common Ground are the processes we go through to explore the cross-boundary issues that need to be addressed and agree on a plan for doing so. We cannot fail because there is no immediate solution to an issue.
The Planning for the Future paper issued on 12 March 2020 has given us a preview of some of the ambitious changes to the planning system in the White Paper. I urge you to review these changes in light of the pandemic to ensure local communities are supported in future proofing their local environment.
I also ask that you take the opportunity to review the guidance around Duty to Cooperate. In the heavily constrained authorities caught between London and the Green Belt the soundness of a local plan cannot rest on the ability to find other authorities to accommodate unmet housing need.”
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Stuart Selleck
Leader, Elmbridge Borough Council
cc Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab, MP
Dr Ben Spencer, MP
