At the last full council, the Executive reiterated the intent of the administration to get Local Plan Part 2 (LPP2) through all the necessary governance steps before Christmas.
With the views of local residents in several key areas now taken into account, this enables the document to go before an inspector in early 2022 (the exact date of that stage will depend on the inspectorate).
Leader of Waverley Borough Council – Paul Follows listening to what residents have to say.
Leader Paul Follows said:
As we have made clear from multiple statements over the past few months the document required several changes from previous iterations that existed (and specifically the draft that the last administration of the council withdrew in April 2019). These changes relate to allocations in Milford (Witley Parish area) and Haslemere (along with some other minor revisions).
In both of those areas, we committed to making every effort to ensure that LPP2 was compatible with the draft Neighbourhood Plans in Witley (now a made plan) and Haslemere (soon to come to referendum).
I am pleased to be able to say that the new draft will achieve that aim.
As members will note from the timetable below, we intend to replace a site in the Haslemere allocation with a site more significant (in terms of housing numbers) than the site it replaces and in a more sustainable location.
Build anywhere, or even everywhere, in the borough of Waverley – except in Haslemere?
Over the last few months our officers have been working with the owner of this site and with Natural England/Surrey Hills AONB to facilitate an allocation in LPP2. The change will, however, necessitate a regulation-19 consultation lasting six weeks.
For us to pass LPP2 before Christmas, several additional (special) meetings of Council, Executive and Overview & Scrutiny are required. The Executive has agreed to the addition of these special Council and Executive sessions. I would also like to thank the chair of the Environment O&S (who has agreed to special O&S dates following a discussion this morning).
Our officers in planning and democratic services have worked extremely hard to enable us to be in this position, and I want to thank them for all of the work they have done on this (and the work to come).
The Waverley BC website will be updated to reflect the new timetable, and I will communicate the schedule to external stakeholders.
Revised Timetable – August 2020
| Task | Proposed Dates |
| Exec Briefing to agree LPP2 committee papers | Tues 7th Sept |
| Papers to be finalised for O&S, Exec, and Council | Fri 10th Sept |
| O&S | Mon 20th Sept (Special) |
| Exec | Thurs 23rd Sept (Afternoon) (Special) |
| Council | Thurs 23rd Sept (Evening) (Special) |
| Finalise documents setting out changes to LPP2 for public consultation (Regulation 19 addendum) | Thurs 30th Sept |
| Further Public Consultation on changes to LPP2 (Regulation 19 addendum) | Fri 1st Oct to Fri 12th Nov |
| Consider comments received from the public consultation Reg 19 addendum | Week ending 26th Nov |
| Exec Briefing | Tues 30th Nov |
| Papers to be finalised for O&S*, Exec and Council | Fri 3rd Dec |
| O&S | *Mon 13th (Special only). This has been put in as a placeholder if the committee wants to review or make any comment post-reg 19. |
| Executive | Tues 14th Dec (Afternoon) Special |
| Council | Tues 14th Dec (Evening) (Scheduled) |
| Formal Submission to SoS for examination | Fri 24th Dec |
If anyone has any questions or concerns they would like to raise with me, the portfolio holder for planning, Cllr Macleod, or other executive members, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Best Regards,
Cllr Paul David Follows
Leader | Waverley Borough Council, Leader | Godalming Town Council, Member for Godalming Central and Ockford WardWaverley (South West Surrey) Liberal Democrats.
07946 288824
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulfollowsGodalming/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulDFollows/