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The Cabinet considered
a report of the Director of Economy and Place / Cabinet Member for
Regeneration and Housing which sought to outline the process for
updating the Rochdale Local Plan. The report also sought approval
to commence the Local Plan process through the Regulation 18
initial public consultation. The report further informed of the
scope of the Integrated assessment and
the proposed “call for Sites”.
 
The Head of Planning
and the Principal Planning Officer were in attendance to present
the information and to answer the questions of the Cabinet
Members.
 
Resolved:
1.   
That the commencement of the Rochdale Local Plan update be
agreed;
2.   
That the Regulation 18 initial public consultation be agreed;
3.   
That the Integrated Assessment Scoping Report outlined in Appendix
one of the report be approved;
4.   
That the Director of Economy and Place, in consultation with the
Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing be given delegated
authority to agree the necessary changes to the Council’s
Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and Local Development
Scheme (LDS) through the Local Plan update process.
 
Reason for
decision:
Having an up to date
Local Plan is a statutory requirement for all Local Planning
Authorities. In order to formally commence the preparation of the
Rochdale Local Plan, it is considered necessary to undertake a
Regulation 18 initial public consultation informing relevant
stakeholders that a new Local Plan is being produced. In addition,
the Regulations require the Council to carry out consultation on
the Integrated Assessment Scoping Report. In producing a new Local
Plan it is likely that this will require amendments to the
Council’s SCI and LDS. Delegating approval of the updating of
these documents will mean they can be updated in a timely manner to
reflect the most up to date guidance and timescales.
 
The Rochdale Local
Plan will ensure that development in Rochdale can come forward in a
sustainable manner giving developers, investors, communities and
the Rochdale Borough Council (Council) certainty in decisions on
planning matters.
 
Alternatives
considered and rejected:
There are not
considered to be any reasonable alternative options. Having an up
to date development plan is a statutory requirement. Not
progressing the Local Plan risks greater uncertainty and delay in
delivering sustainable growth in Rochdale. This would mean that the
Council would have to continue to rely on the Rochdale Core
Strategy which was adopted in 2016 and the high-level GM-wide
policies in the Places for Everyone (PfE) Plan when making decisions on planning
applications. Once adopted, the PfE
plan will have up to date policies but it is still necessary to
have more up-to-date detailed Local Plan policies to ensure that
more specific local issues and priorities can be taken into account
in decision making and delivering the plan. Not having an
up-to-date Local Plan could mean that developers are more likely to
challenge the Council’s planning application decisions on
appeal and be more likely to succeed with that challenge as the
existing Core Strategy gets older.