Local Plan Approved During Full Council Meeting

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has formally adopted its Local Plan 2020–2040 after councillors were told rejecting the document could leave the borough open to unprecedented development.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has formally adopted its Local Plan 2020–2040 after councillors were told rejecting the document could leave the borough open to unprecedented development.

After years of consultation, heated debate and significant community opposition, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has formally adopted its Local Plan, paving the way for development across the borough until 2040.

At a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 8th July, councillors voted 32 votes to 6 in favour of adopting the Newcastle-under-Lyme Local Plan 2020–2040, bringing to an end one of the borough's most contentious decisions in recent years.

The Local Plan, which councils are required by Government to produce, identifies land for housing, employment, community and environmental protection while ensuring authorities can demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land. Without an up-to-date Local Plan, councils have significantly reduced powers to refuse planning applications, particularly where they cannot demonstrate sufficient housing supply.

Throughout the examination process, however, the plan has attracted fierce opposition from residents across the borough over the inclusion of several Green Belt sites.

Among the most controversial allocations are proposals for around 900 homes at Keele Golf Course, the housing allocation known as KL15, and the strategic employment site AB2, all of which prompted lengthy campaigns from local residents concerned about the loss of Green Belt, increased traffic and pressure on infrastructure.

In May, the independent Planning Inspector published her final report of modification to the plan. While a number of proposed allocations were removed entirely, other sites were retained subject to further evidence and technical reports being commissioned to make them "sound".

By the time the Local Plan reached Full Council, councillors were presented with what several described as an impossible situation.

Deputy Leader Cllr Graham Shaw told members that, while nobody around the chamber would claim the document was perfect, failing to adopt it would leave Newcastle-under-Lyme exposed to speculative development with far less ability to refuse planning applications.

He explained that the position of Cabinet was therefore to recommend adoption, not because members necessarily supported every allocation within the plan, but because the alternative would remove much of the council's control over future development.

Cllr Shaw also stressed that the newly elected Reform UK administration had played no role in drafting the Local Plan, explaining that it had been prepared under the previous Conservative administration over several years. He said the council had written to the Planning Inspectorate seeking greater flexibility but had been informed there was no opportunity to make further amendments.

Former Conservative Leader, Cllr Simon Tagg, likewise acknowledged the difficult position facing councillors, arguing that much of the pressure stemmed from the Government's mandatory housing requirements rather than decisions taken locally. He also pointed out that many of the campaign groups opposing individual allocations had not identified realistic alternative sites capable of delivering the homes and employment land the borough is required to provide.

Ultimately, a majority of councillors concluded that adopting the plan represented the least damaging option available.

The motion was carried by 32 votes to 6.

Supporting the Local Plan were the majority of the Reform UK group together with the entire Conservative group.

Voting against were Labour councillors Dave Jones and Sheelagh Casey-Hulme, Reform UK councillors Rhys Machin, Patricia Harrison and Janice Sain-Reiners, who represent Audley, together with Scott Stevenson, the Reform councillor for Newchapel.

Council Leader Cllr Jonathan Gullis, who also serves as Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Planning, did not take part in the debate or vote.

Cllr Gullis declared an interest and left the chamber because, in his role as a Senior Adviser to a private company, he undertakes work connected with Indurent, the developers behind the proposed AB2 strategic employment site.

The adopted Local Plan makes provision for approximately 400 new homes each year across the borough until 2040.

For supporters, it provides the borough with an adopted planning framework and restores greater control over future planning decisions. For opponents, it marks the approval of developments they have campaigned against for years and the permanent loss of significant areas of Green Belt and biodiversity.

Either way, Wednesday's vote closes one chapter of decision making in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and, with new housing targets already on the horizon, may prove to be only the beginning of the next.