Mole Valley Local Plan Paused

Local Plan Update Following Publication of New Government Policy Framework

Mole Valley has paused the examination of its Local Plan pending clarity on government policy following changes proposed to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2022. 

 

Councillor Margaret Cooksey, Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “The Government sets out its planning policy requirements in documents called the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In December 2022, they announced changes to the NPPF that, if carried through in accordance with the consultation they ran (which ended in March 2023), would have had implications for MVDC’s emerging local plan. The consultation suggested that MVDC would not be required to review the district’s green belt as a way of meeting housing needs. For this reason, MVDC paused the examination of the local plan until the government’s policy position was clarified. Despite the revisions to the NPPF being promised in the spring of 2023, the document was only published on 19 December 2023. 

 

“I could not be more disappointed. The new NPPF includes a provision appearing to mean, for the purposes of our Local Plan examination, that MVDC is not allowed to use the new NPPF at all. This was not something that was in the consultation draft produced by the government and, in essence, means that MVDC will have waited 12 months for clarification of government policy, only to be told it cannot be used. We feel very disappointed by the Secretary of State’s decision and badly let down. 

 

“This is such a recent development that it will require time to hear from the Local Plan Inspector as to how she wishes us to progress, and for MVDC to subsequently make a decision as to the best course of action for the district.”