A public meeting was held at the Memorial Hall on 17th December 2024 for BPC to update parishioners and share the proposed BPC way forward. Slides attached. At the meeting Councillor Simon Pike from Thatcham Town Council offered to share his work on drafting a response to WBC regarding the main changes to the Local Plan Review. These are attached below to help you respond to the consultation..

Local Plan consultation - extract documents

Here are the two extract documents of the Main Modifications and the SA/SEA. Both are about 40 pages long. Within them, I have highlighted the parts that I think are most significant for comments - in terms of importance to residents and likely weight to the planning inspector.

Response templates will follow in the near future which may be easier to use to respond to the consultation. 

We do need you to respond to the consultation please.

 

Have your say on main changes to the Local Plan Review

Our public consultation on the main changes to the district’s Local Plan 2022- 2039 is now live.

The Local Plan sets out planned development for West Berkshire and guides decisions on future development proposals in line with the needs of the district.

The Public Examination stage began earlier this year with a number of public hearings – the last of which took place on 3 October 2024. During this process, the Planning Inspector required additional sites to be identified to address a shortfall in the number of houses to be delivered within the next five years. Consequently the Council put forward the following amendments and additions to the plan:

• An increase in the number of homes in North East Thatcham from 1,500 to 2,500, including a masterplan Supplementary Planning Document 

• Additional sites proposed for housing at: 

• Henwick Park, Bowling Green Rd Thatcham – approximately 225 homes 

• East of Regency Park Hotel Thatcham – approximately 45 homes 

• Pincents Lane, Calcot – approximately 138 homes 

• Land north of Pangbourne Hill Pangbourne – approximately 25 homes. 

These sites achieve the enhanced housing numbers the inspector expected to have in the Local Plan. 

The Government requires every Local Plan to be reviewed at least once every five years. Our current Local Plan sets out our planning policies up to 2026, and this latest review, if approved, will take us up to 2041.

Regularly reviewing the Local Plan ensures the Council will meet both the current and emerging housing needs of the district. It sets the strategy for distributing development and policies for protecting, conserving, and enhancing the natural built and historic environment.

Speaking about the Local Plan Review, Councillor Denise Gaines, Deputy Leader, and West Berkshire's Executive Member for Planning said, 

“We have now reached the next key milestone in the Local Plan process after a long and difficult journey. The council has been put in the most challenging position of being told to progress this plan by Central Government. We were ready to vote to withdraw the plan, but we were directed to proceed to examination by the Secretary of State. The sites identified in the main modifications are extremely contentious with many residents in West Berkshire, but we are in the invidious position of having to proceed to consultation.

 “If we do not continue to work with the Inspector then there is a very high probability that the development of the Plan will be taken over by Central Government and the Council will lose any influence and control over the process at considerable cost to our residents. 

“The Inspector now requires that we carry out a full public consultation on the main modifications which will give you, our communities, another opportunity to highlight your views and concerns to the Inspector.” 

The consultation runs until Friday 31 January 2025 and we're encouraging residents  have their say.

Following the consultation the Council will be able to make a brief written response to any submissions received. All submissions and the Council’s response will then be sent to the Inspector so that he can prepare his final report.

Consultation on the Proposed Main Modifications to the West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039

Have your say on the Proposed Main Modifications to the West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039.

Consultation statusOpen - 52 days left

Start date: 2024-12-06

End date: 2025-01-31

Results 2025-03-31

 

 

Background

West Berkshire Council has prepared the West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039 (LPR) and accompanying Policies Map which it submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination in March 2023. The LPR sets the spatial strategy for the District, allocates sites for housing, economic development, and Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople. It also contains policies to manage a range of development types across the District, ensuring that the right development happens in the right place at the right time, benefiting communities, the economy, and the environment.

The LPR is currently being independently examined by a Planning Inspector, William Fieldhouse BA(Hons) MA MRTPI, who was appointed by the Secretary of State. The Inspector's role is to assess whether the LPR has been prepared in accordance with the Duty to Cooperate, legal and procedural requirements, and whether it is sound (positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy). If the Inspector concludes that the LPR is sound and meets the necessary tests, it can then be adopted by the Council and will form the Local Plan for the District.

Examination hearing sessions were held in May, June and October 2024 to discuss a number of issues upon which the Planning Inspector required clarification. The purpose of the discussions at the hearings was for the Inspector, the Council and participants to gain the fullest possible understanding of any Main Modifications that may be required. Main Modifications are changes that are considered necessary by the Inspector to be sound and legally compliant. 

You can view further information about the preparation of the LPR to date here.

What we are proposing

Based on the outcomes of the hearing sessions and the additional work undertaken, at the request of the Inspector, the Council has now prepared a Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the LPR, together with a Schedule of Proposed Changes to the Policies Map arising as a result of the Proposed Main Modifications to the Plan. The Inspector has made it clear that at this stage of the Examination, he has concluded that the proposed Main Modifications are all necessary to address soundness issues and will be effective in doing so. However, this is without prejudice to his final conclusions which will ultimately be made having regard to representations in response to the public consultation, in addition to all of the evidence currently before him.

It is important that any proposed Main Modifications do not undermine the sustainability process that has informed the preparation of the LPR. The Council has therefore updated the Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA/SEA) Report and produced an addendum to the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA), both of which accompany the LPR.

Why we want your views

Any proposed Main Modifications to the LPR require consultation, and the Inspector has instructed the Council to progress to consultation. At a meeting of Council on Thursday 28 November 2024, Councillors agreed that the Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the LPR, the Schedule of Proposed Changes to the Policies Map, the updated SA/SEA Report and addendum to the HRA could be published for an 8-week period of public consultation between Friday 6 December 2024 and 11.59pm on Friday 31 January 2025.

Consultation documents

The consultation documents are available to view online below. Reference copies of the documents in addition to the proposals map are also available for public inspection in the main reception at West Berkshire District Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD. The Council's offices are open 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday; and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays. They are closed weekends, Bank Holidays, and Friday 27th December 2024.

• Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039 (November 2024) [3MB] . You can  view the Proposed Submission West Berkshire LPR (January 2023) here [5MB] .
• Schedule of the Proposed Changes to the Policies Map (November 2024) [5MB] . You can  view the updated Policies Map here [44MB] . An updated interactive version of the Policies Map showing the proposed changes since submission has not been published at this stage. The interactive map will be updated for adoption.
• Updated Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA/SEA) Report - Proposed Main Modifications (November 2024) [7MB] . You can  view the SA/SEA Non-Technical Summary of the Proposed Main Modifications here [428KB]
• Addendum to the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) of the Proposed Main Modifications (November 2024) [383KB]

The Council has also prepared the following documents which are not subject to public consultation and so will not be considered by the Planning Inspector. They are being published for information only:

• Schedule of Proposed Additional Modifications [253KB] . These are modifications of a minor nature to update the LPR, to correct errors, and to provide clarification in interpreting the policies of the LPR
• Equalities Impact Assessment [293KB]

How to submit comments

If you would like to comment on either the Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the LPR, the Schedule of Proposed Changes to the LPR Policies Map, the updated SA/SEA Report - Proposed Main Modifications, and addendum to the HRA of the Proposed Main Modifications, please use  the representation form [68KB] . Hard copies of the representation form are also available from the Council Offices in Market Street, Newbury. Completed forms will need to be returned by 11:59pm on Friday 31 January 2025, and they can be submitted in the following ways: 

• Email: planningpolicy@westberks.gov.uk; or
• Post: Planning Policy Team, Development and Housing, West Berkshire District Council, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD.

Detailed guidance on making representations is included in the following two documents:

• Guidance Note [155KB]
• Statement of Representations Procedure and Availability of Documents [110KB]

For more information about how we use your personal data, please  view our Privacy Notice here [131KB] .

If you submitted comments during previous consultations on the preparation of the LPR, the Inspector has considered these during the examination and there is no need to repeat these comments.

Only those representations that arrive at the addresses specified above within the eight-week period from Friday 6 December 2024 until 11.59pm on Friday 31 January 2025 will be considered by the Inspector.

If you have any questions about the consultation, please email planningpolicy@westberks.gov.uk or call 01635 519 111. 

What happens next

After the consultation ends on Friday 31 January 2025, all representations received by the Council will be sent to the Inspector, along with a report listing all of the representations, a brief summary of the main issues raised and a brief Council response to those main issues. These will also be published on the LPR web page.

The Inspector will consider all of the representations and the Council's responses to them before finalising and issuing his Examination Report. At this stage, it is not envisaged any further hearing sessions will be held unless the Inspector considers it essential to deal with any substantial issues arising from the consultation. 

You can request to be notified of the progress of the Examination, including the publication of the Inspector's recommendations and/or the adoption of the LPR.