Cllr Millard calls on Government to deliver on overdue promise
East Hampshire District Council Leader, Cllr Richard Millard, has urged the Government to provide guidance now, ‘not at some unspecified point in the future’, if councils are to prepare Local Plans ahead of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
In May EHDC announced that a series of confusing and contradictory changes to planning rules and the prospect of new council areas after LGR had forced us to change direction and refocus our work on our Local Plan.
The Government has been slow to recognise the issue and said it would provide guidance on the matter, but councils are still waiting.
This week, EHDC Leader, Cllr Richard Millard, has written to Housing Minister Alison McGovern MP asking for the much-needed guidance, saying councils are making big decisions now and can’t wait while the Government sorts itself out.
He said: “Councils are expected to continue delivering ambitious planning programmes while simultaneously restructuring local government, adapting to new legislation, preparing for new plan-making procedures and awaiting guidance that has yet to materialise.
“As Leader of the council, I concluded that continuing under the previous timetable was no longer a responsible use of public resources. Instead, our planning officers are now working towards plan-making under the new system, with the intention of publishing our notice to commence before the end of the year.
“That decision has been forced - not by any lack of commitment from this council, its officers or local communities - but by the uncertainty arising directly from the Government's own programme of overlapping and incomplete reforms.”
Cllr Millard believes that the combination of changes to planning rules and the introduction of a new planning policy system while simultaneously undergoing the biggest shake-up of local government in 50 years has fundamentally changed the planning landscape.
The Government has promised that councils will receive guidance on how to prepare Local Plans in the face of these competing pressures ‘in due course’.
Cllr Millard states: “That is no longer sufficient. Councils cannot continue to operate on the basis of assurances that guidance will appear at some unspecified point in the future.
“Councils are making decisions now on staffing, procurement, evidence gathering, budgets and programme management.”
The letter raises three main concerns:
- Duty to prepare Local Plans: Does the Government expect councils to continue spending significant public funds on Local Plans for authorities that will cease to exist in 2028?
- Geography: How should East Hampshire prepare a Local Plan when the district will be split between two new councils, potentially rendering current planning work obsolete?
- Transitional arrangements: Councils need urgent guidance now. Without clear transitional arrangements, they are making major decisions on budgets, staffing and planning in a vacuum, risking delays, wasted resources and missed Government targets.
While reaffirming EHDC's commitment to housing delivery, economic growth and maintaining an up-to-date planning framework, Cllr Millard urged the Government to provide immediate guidance and greater policy certainty.
He asks ministers to urgently answer the council's questions and confirm when comprehensive transitional arrangements will be published.