Object
Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031, Proposed Submission
Representation ID: 7169
Received: 17/11/2017
Respondent: Mr Nelson Renner
Agent: Town Planning Services
Legally compliant? No
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? No
The Local Plan period does not comply with the NPPF requirement to plan for a 15-year time horizon. Additional information within the Leicester Housing Market Area is emerging in January 2018, which could place greater demands on Harborough District to accommodate unmet housing needs. The Local Plan does not robustly address the Duty to Cooperate. It is expected that the adoption of the Local Plan will have to be delayed to address these unmet housing needs. Any delay will reduce the plan period further, and the local plan will not be in accordance with the NPPF.
The Local Plan period has set to cover the period up to 2031, with an estimated adoption date for the plan stated as being October 2018. This would give a 13-year plan period, even if that adoption date can be maintained. Paragraph 157 of the NPPF requires that local plans should be drawn up over an appropriate time scale, preferably a 15-year time horizon, take account of longer term requirements, and be kept up to date.
It is very likely that the emerging Leicester & Leicestershire Strategic Growth Plan will raise questions about the distribution of housing within the Leicester Housing Market Area, highlighting the unmet housing need within Leicester City, that will require HDC to make further housing allocations to ensure that the Duty to Cooperate can be demonstrated.
A new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with neighbouring authorities is due to be signed in January 2018 prior to this plan being examined. This new MOU may alter the basis of the previous MOU because of the unmet needs Leicester City Council have identified. The Harborough Local Plan is not considered to be sound in its current form.