Introduction
Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council are in the process of reviewing the joint Minerals and Waste Development Plan; comprising the Core Strategy Development Plan Document (2011) and the Site Specific Proposals Development Plan Document (2012). These two plans will be replaced by a single joint Minerals and Waste Local Plan covering the two authority areas.
On 24 March 2020 the councils submitted the new Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Plan to the government for examination by an independent planning inspector.
Inspector
The Secretary of State has appointed Planning Inspector Stephen Normington BSc DipTP MRICS MRTPI FIQ FIHE to conduct an examination into the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Plan.
The Inspector will consider whether the Local Plan is sound and complies with legal requirements, and if it is positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. In conducting the examination the Inspector will take account of representations that have been made to the proposed submission plan.
The Examination Hearings
The Examination Hearings have now closed.
The Inspector has determined what matters and issues U considered at the examination. The dates and the programme for the hearing sessions are published below. The examination hearings took place on 15, 16 and 17 September 2020 and were held virtually (see document E002a - Inspector Guidance Note Update and 'E008 - Inspectors Note for Virtual Hearing Participants').
At each hearing session the Inspector led a discussion with the councils and invited participants on an issue identified in advance. Whilst sessions were open for all to observe (streamed via a link provided on this page), only those who made a representation to the Proposed Submission Local Plan were able to take part.
The planning inspectorate published guidance on the procedure for local plan examinations.
Main Modifications Consultation
During the examination to date, a number of proposed changes (‘Main Modifications’) to the Minerals and Waste Local Plan have been identified. These changes are likely to be required to address concerns identified by the Inspector or representors. These changes will, it is considered, make the submitted Plan ‘sound’ and legally compliant (without prejudice to the Inspector’s eventual consideration of the soundness of the Plan), and therefore enable the Plan to be adopted. In October 2020 the Inspector wrote to the councils and advised the councils to consult on the Proposed Main Modifications.
The document, E007b - Schedule of Councils’ Post Submission Suggested Modifications, is available to view and download from the examination library on this page.
In line with the temporary modifications to the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning)(England) Regulations 2012, paper copies will not be made available for this consultation – it will be a website only consultation.
If you wish to make comments on any of the proposed main modifications, please send them by email to planningpolicy@peterborough.gov.uk.
We urge you to email comments, if at all possible.
You must quote the proposed Main Modifications (MWLP/Main/) number that you are commenting on and your comments should reach us by 11.59pm on 15 December 2020.
This consultation is about the Proposed Main Modifications only. All comments that we receive will be forwarded to the Inspector (via the Programme Officer) and will be considered by him when writing his Inspector’s Report; they will not be considered by the councils, unless the Inspector asks the councils to respond to any of them.
Examination Library
This library contains the documents which relate to the examination itself. It also contains the submission Minerals and Waste Local Plan and the evidence documents that support it. These documents will be referred to during the examination. The library will be updated as the examination proceeds.
Paper copies of these documents can be viewed by making prior arrangements with the programme officer using the contact details above.
The representations received during the Main Modifications consultation have now been made available to view (see document E012). The Councils are in the process of preparing a response to each for the Inspector, and will update the website with such responses shortly.
The representations received, and the Councils responses have now been sent to the Inspector, document E007c sets out both representations and responses. Neither the Council or the Inspector are seeking representations on them.
The Councils have now received the Inspectors Report on the Soundness of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Plan. The Report is available to view in the Examination Library below, reference E013. Once the Councils have considered the contents of the Report, they will take it to their respective committees for consideration.