Local plan delayed again – and council blame the government

WARRINGTON Borough Council is blaming the Government for further delays in the publication of its draft Local Plan.
The plan – which will set out the council’s long term proposals for the future development of the borough – will not now be published until March next year at the earliest.
Originally the plan should have been published early in the autumn, then it was put back until the end of the year because of the number of representations made by the public.
In a joint statement, council leader Terry O’Neill and lead member for planning Cllr Judith Guthrie say the council is continuing to work on the delivery of the draft Local Plan, which will set out the proposed approach to meeting the borough’s future need for homes, jobs and supporting infrastructure.
But they say the Government has recently proposed further changes to the formula that will establish the minimum number of homes that Warrington will need to plan for. The Government is consulting on these changes until Friday December 7.
It is important that the council has clarity over the changes to the national planning rules in order to understand what this means for Warrington. The council has therefore decided that it has no option but to delay the publication of its draft Local Plan.
It is now anticipated the plan will be published in March next year, prior to a further round of public consultation.
The two councillors said: “The Government has moved the goal posts yet again and is making the process of producing the Local Plan more difficult both for us and other councils to produce their plans.
“It is causing uncertainty for local people. We have made real progress in producing our plan, but this uncertainty around the housing figures is delaying our final decisions and it is compromising our ability to get on with the important job of setting out the strategic future for our borough.
“This is just not good enough and we urge the Government to move to provide clarity on this as a matter of urgency.”