Agenda item

Update report on the Borough’s Local Development Scheme 2025.

The Cabinet received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which advised Members that on 12^th December 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister had written to all local authority leaders and Metro Mayors across England to introduce the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and proposed planning reforms, and to request all councils to review and update their timetables for getting an up-to-date development plan in place within the next 12 weeks – thus by 6^th March 2025.

The Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan (PfE), was adopted on 21^st March 2024, formed part of Oldham’s Development Plan. However, as a high-level strategic plan it did not cover everything that a Development Plan needs to address, and it was always intended for each borough to adopt their own “Part 2” Local Plan to sit alongside PfE.

As such, there remains a need to progress the Oldham Local Plan to provide locally specific and up-to-date policies, particularly in relation to the delivery of affordable housing and achieving the right housing mix to meet our needs and address the housing crisis across the borough. The Local Development Scheme (LDS) is effectively a project plan and timetable for preparing development plan documents. Oldham’s LDS was last updated on 22^nd December 2023 and the timetable for the Part 2 Local Plan had slipped since this time. As a result, the current LDS was not up-to-date and there was a need to prepare a new LDS that covers the Part 2 Local Plan in order to meet the requirements set out in the letter from the MHCLG and to ensure that the Council has an up-to-date local planning policy framework in place for the Borough.

On 12^th February 2025, a Motion was agreed at an Extraordinary Council Meeting to write to the Deputy Prime Minister to ask her to revoke PfE as it relates to Oldham borough. At the time of writing this report, the Deputy Prime Minister has not replied to that letter, and so PfE is still a part of the Development Plan for Oldham. Subject to the response received from the Deputy Prime Minister there are two options regarding how to progress the Local Plan and LDS – which are set out below:

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option 1 - To approve and publish the Local Development Scheme 2025 Update.  The advantages were that it would ensure that an up-to-date timetable for the Oldham Local Plan was available by 6^th March 2024, as per the letter from the Deputy Prime Minister dated 12^th December 2024. There were no reported disadvantages to updating the LDS.

Option 2 – Not to approve and publish the Local Development Scheme 2025. There were no advantages in not updating the LDS. The reported disadvantages, were that failing to update and publish the LDS by 6^th March 2025, would not meet the requirements set out in the letter from the Deputy Prime Minister, dated 12^th December 2024. It was clear that the MHCLG were prepared to use their interventionary powers, if necessary, to ensure that updated timetables were prepared and that suitably ambitious plans were progressed and ensure sound plans be adopted.

Preferred Option – Option One.

The Cabinet was advised that the report was time limited, insofar that the government had requested that all local authorities must publish details of their Local Development Scheme, three days after this Cabinet meeting, on 6^th March 2025. This deadline would be impossible for Oldham Borough Council to reach if this particular decision was subject to the normal call-in process, which would likely not expire until 11^th March 2025, at the earliest. Therefore, the Chair of the relevant Scrutiny Board (Place, Economic Growth and Environment), had, under Rule 14 of the Council’s Constitution exempted this decision from the call-in process.

Resolved:

1.    That, if, the request to revoke PfE as it relates to Oldham borough is rejected, the Local Plan would continue to be progressed as a Part 2 Local Plan alongside PfE, in line with programme set out in the LDS 2025 Update and this report and, if this were the case Cabinet would approve the update and publication of the Council’s Local Development Scheme 2025 Update.

Or;

2.    Were the request to revoke PfE as it relates to Oldham borough is accepted, PfE would no longer be part of the Development Plan for Oldham and a new LDS would need to be prepared setting out a programme for preparing a brand new single Local Plan document for Oldham, and the deadline set by the Deputy Prime Minister for publishing a new LDS would not be met. Officers would prepare a new LDS as soon as possible and bring it to the first scheduled Cabinet meeting of the 2025/26 municipal year, on 16^th June 2025 for consideration. If this were the case Cabinet would note that the deadline for publishing a new Local Development Scheme by 6^th March 2025 will not be met by Oldham Council but that a revised LDS, for the preparation of a brand new, single Local Plan for Oldham borough will be brought to Cabinet on 16^th June 2025 for consideration.

3.    That the actions of the Chair of the Place, Economic Growth and Environment Scrutiny Board, in exempting this decision from the call-in process, be noted.