Regulation 18 Consultation on our Single Local Plan

This consultation closed on 17 December 2023, an update will be available shortly which will summarise the findings and next steps.

Overview

This consultation asks you to comment on a proposal to progress the Hounslow Local Plan Review as a single Local Plan, rather than as a series of separate documents in different volumes, which was the case until the Local Plans were withdrawn from examination in July 2023.

What is a Local Plan?

A Local Plan is a document which sets out planning policies and proposals for new development. Local plans are prepared by local planning authorities, which are usually local councils. The London Borough of Hounslow is the local planning authority for our borough. Hounslow already has an adopted Local Plan (the Hounslow Local Plan 2015-2035), the government requires us to review these plans every five years, which are we in the process of doing. When it is completed and ‘adopted’ our updated Local Plan will be used to help determine planning applications in Hounslow borough.

Background

Following the review and adoption of the Hounslow Local Plan in 2015, the Planning Inspectorate set a requirement for us to prepare two area-specific local plan documents as part of our next Local Plan Review. These were progressed and submitted for examination in December 2020.

The Local Plan Review documents were examined by the Planning Inspectorate, starting in November 2021. We had also proposed updates to our existing 2015 Local Plan document to make it consistent with the Local Plan Review.

In late 2022 the Planning Inspectorate advised the existing Local Plan (2015-2030) document would need to be updated separately with its own examination process, and the Local Plan Review examination would need to be paused until this separate process concluded. We considered this and decided it would take a long time to get both Plans completed and adopted this way.

We decided the simplest and best method to progress the Local Plan would be by withdrawing the plan documents from examination, before combining the area based plans and borough-wide Site Allocations document with an updated version of the 2015 Local Plan. The withdrawn plan documents can be viewed in the documents panel. This new single Local Plan will help enable positive development in the Borough that meets the needs of communities, addresses climate change and enhances the built and natural environment.

The new single Local Plan is programmed to be adopted in 2025 and will be part of the development plan used by planning officers for determining planning applications in the borough.

Please view the Regulation 18 Statement in the documents panel for more information on the background of the Local Plan. The withdrawn Local Plan Review documents (Great West Corridor Local Plan Review, West of Borough Local Plan Review and Site Allocations) can also be viewed in the documents panel.

This consultation is focused on (i) our proposal to combine the four volumes of the Local Plan Review into a single, consolidated Local Plan; and (ii) the content of that single Local Plan.

It is important to emphasise that previous rounds of consultation and engagement on the emerging Local Plan Review documents have played a very significant role in determining the way forward in our strategy to /produce a single, consolidated Local Plan. The feedback received to date on the Local Plan Review documents will continue to shape the new single Local Plan; the new single Local Plan will take forward much of the content of the separate volumes previously consulted upon, with some updates and refinement as the volumes are brought together. We remain committed to ongoing consultation and engagement, involving local residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the plan-making process.

In more detail, the proposed changes to be made to the four Local Plan Review documents as they are brought together in a single Local Plan are as follows:

• To update the policies, site allocations and supporting text to take account of changes over time. For example, where sites proposed for allocation in the previous versions of the Local Plan documents have now been developed or built out, these will be removed from the Local Plan.
• To reflect updates to the evidence base, to ensure the single Local Plan is supported by a robust and up-to-date suite of evidence. This includes, for example, updates to the Local Housing Needs Assessment, Employment Land Review Study, Retail Needs Assessment and Whole Plan Viability Assessment.
• To enable general conformity with the London Plan. The previous versions of the Local Plan Review documents were prepared prior to the publication of the adopted London Plan 2021. It will be important to ensure that the policies and approaches in the single Local Plan are in “general conformity” with the London Plan. This includes in relation to setting the housing target for the Borough, and the approach to be taken to protecting the Green Belt.
• To ensure the single Local Plan reflects the latest Council priorities, including in relation to climate change and the move towards net zero carbon.
• To take account of the comments made by the Planning Inspectors who were presiding over the examination of Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of the Local Plan Review. For example, to ensure the plan period will cover a minimum of 15 years after the Local Plan is adopted.
• To make any other changes deemed necessary and appropriate to ensure consistency with the updated NPPF (September 2023 version) and enable timely progress towards adoption of the single Local Plan. This will include avoiding repetition between sections of the Local Plan and within the policies of the Local Plan.

How to Comment

The consultation is open for your comment between Wednesday 1 November 2023 and 11.59pm on Sunday 17 December 2023.

Please send us any comments you have by completing the survey on this page.

Alternatively, you can send us any comments you have by completing the Consultation Response Form (available to download in Word or PDF form in the 'documents' area on the right hand side) and then send us your response by email or post through the following methods:

By email: LDF@hounslow.gov.uk

By post: Spatial Planning Team, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow, TW3 3EB.

If you require a paper copy of the consultation, or in an alternative format such as Braille or EasyRead, please contact consult@hounsow.gov.uk.

Please note your comments and your name or the organisation you represent may be published on our website as part of the Local Plan preparation process; however, we will not publish personal information, such as telephone numbers or email addresses. Please note that we cannot accept anonymous comments or comments marked ‘private’ or ‘confidential’. You can view the Council’s relevant privacy notices at: www.hounslow.gov.uk/privacynotice. These provide advice about how your personal information will be used and stored.

Next Steps

Following completion of the work required to update and bring the four volumes together in one document, it is our intention to undertake a Regulation 19 consultation on the single Local Plan in summer 2024, followed by submission of the single Local Plan and all related evidence for independent examination by appointed Planning Inspectors. You will have an opportunity to comment on the full details of the single Local Plan next summer.

Further Information

Further information about the single Local Plan can be found at our project webpage: https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/singlelocalplan

Paper copies of all consultations and surveys are available. To request one, please email consult@hounslow.gov.uk or call 020 8583 2000.