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Responses to Local Plan Issues and Options consultation

The District Council is partially updating its Local Plan. The first stage of the Local Plan Partial Update was to identify ‘Issues and Options’ that the Local Plan needs to respond to. We undertook a six-week public consultation between February and March 2022. We received a large number of responses, which provided us with an enormous amount of useful information. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation.

You can view the Issues and Options consultation document again via the link below. The links below also provide a summary report of the matters raised by the responses to the consultation and our responses to the representations.

• View the Regulation 18 “Issues and Options” consultation document

• View the Regulation 18 “Issues and Options” consultation summary report

• View the Council’s responses to representations to the Regulation 18 “Issues and Options” consultation

The information we received is already being used in the next stage of the partial update to the Local Plan, where we are writing new and updated Local Plan polices. We will again ask for your feedback on the proposed Local Plan policies in another public consultation, which we plan to take place later in 2023 and early 2024.

Local Plan timetable

The Council’s Local Development Scheme will be updated later in 2023. However, the diagram below provides an indicative updated timetable for the production of the Local Plan Partial Update up to the point it is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination.

Two upcoming consultations that we’ll be undertaking…

Between 16 February 2023 and 16 March 2023, we will be consulting on two evidence documents that will be used in the Local Plan making process. The documents are unavoidably technical in nature but we wish to make sure we are doing everything we can to tackle climate change and deliver sustainable developments.

Consultation on Non-Strategic Site Allocations Selection Methodology

No sites are being recommended for development in this consultation. The consultation instead seeks views on the various criteria that will help us to select the best and most sustainable sites for development in the Local Plan.

Consultation on Guidance for major development in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape)

The guidance explains the two-stage process of how to establish:

- whether development proposals are “major development” in the context of the Cotswolds AONB / National Landscape; and

- whether there are any “exceptional circumstances” for major development in the AONB and whether the development is in the public interest.

We are inviting feedback on whether this guidance can be improved in any way.

National Policy consultation

The government is currently consulting on changes to national planning policies, which are part of its wider reforms proposed by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The consultation closes on 2 March 2023 and includes two key documents:

• Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy

• National Planning Policy Framework (July 2021) showing indicative changes for consultation

The consultation proposals would affect plan-making in Cotswold District if they are implemented as proposed. We will make our response to the consultation available on our website. However, the consultation is open to everyone and you can also provide a response if you wish to.

Neighbourhood Plans

The Independent Examiner of the Fairford Neighbourhood Plan presented his report on the submission plan at the start of February, recommending that subject to modifications, the Plan should proceed to referendum. This is quite a milestone for Cotswold – while there are already seven ‘made’ plans, the Fairford Neighbourhood Plan is the first in our district to make a housing allocation. To learn more, visit: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/