Agenda item

Cllr Whyte introduced the report which asked full Council to consider a way forward for the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan which was prepared, published and submitted by the legacy Councils and was at public examination.

Options were set out in the report attached to the agenda pack, however Cllr Whyte set out the preferred option which was to withdraw the Plan now in advance of any final decision being reached by the examination Planning Inspectors, to allow efforts to be focused on the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan.

Cllr Whyte advised that for the reasons set out in the report, the withdrawal of the Local Plan was the recommended option because, whilst the examination Planning Inspectors’ initial findings on the duty to cooperate were not agreed and/or accepted, the likelihood was that this action might in any event be forced on the Council by the Inspectors. Therefore, to withdraw now would potentially save significant abortive costs and would allow efforts and resources to be concentrated on the preparation of the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan. If full Council were to agree with the recommended option, officers would carry out the required steps and focus their efforts on the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan. They would also provide guidance to town and parish councils wishing to prepare neighbourhood plans in the interim.

Cllr Whyte advised that a new local plan for Buckinghamshire would reflect the considerable effect Covid-19 has had on areas such as shopping habits and town centres as well as changes to planning law and the proposals in the Planning White Paper.

In response to questions raised by members, Cllr Whyte confirmed that the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) was in the final stages of modification and final comments from the planning inspectorate were awaited, a process which the Council was unable to expedite. Officers considered that the decision being taken on the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan would have no impact on the VALP.

Having considered the options set out in the report, it was moved by Cllr W Whyte, seconded by Cllr N Glover, and the threshold was met for a recorded vote to be taken, with the votes being cast as follows:

For (165): B Adams, C Adams, J Adey, S Adoh, K Ahmed, Z Ahmed, D Anthony, M Asif, A Bacon, R Bagge, D Barnes, P Bastiman, M Bateman, B Bendyshe-Brown, M Bezzant, P Birchley, J Bloom, A Bond, S Bowles, M Bradford, J Brandis, C Branston, D Bray, S Broadbent, N Brown, S Brown, H Bull, T Butcher, D Carroll, B Chapple OBE, S Chapple, S Chhokar, J Chilver, A Christensen, L Clarke OBE, M Clarke, A Cole, A Collingwood, P Cooper, A Cranmer, E Culverhouse, I Darby, M Davy, D Dhillon, T Egleton, C Etholen, B Everitt, R Farmer, P Fealey, M Flys, C Ford, B Gibbs, J Gladwin, N Glover, T Green, P Griffin, G Hall, M Hanif, M Harker OBE, G Harris, M Harris, C Harriss, M A Hashmi, D Hayday, A Hill, P Hogan, G Hollis, T Hunter-Watts, M Hussain JP, A Hussain, Majid Hussain, Maz Hussain, N Hussain, T Hussain, A Huxley, P Irwin, C Jackson, S Jenkins, D Johncock, C Jones, P Jones, J Jordan, P Kelly, R King, M Knight, D Knights, S Lambert, J Langley, T Lee, J Lowen-Cooper, D Lyons, J MacBean, A Macpherson, W Mallen, N Marshall, D Martin, P Martin, V Martin, W Matthews, H McCarthy, T Mills, L Monger, G Moore, H Mordue, S Morgan, N Naylor, R Newcombe, R Newman, C Oliver, S Patel, C Paternoster, B Pearce, G Peart BEM, D Pepler, C Poll, G Powell, R Raja, S K Raja, W Raja, M Rand, S Raven, R Reed, S Renshell, B Roberts, C Rouse, J Rush, B Russel, S Saddique, G Sandy, R Sangster, D Saunders, D Shakespeare OBE, M Shaw, L Smith BEM, D Smith, Michael Smith, Mike Smith, B Stanier, M Stannard, P Strachan, R Stuchbury, L Sullivan, J Teesdale, N Teesdale, M Tett, M Titterington, D Town, A Turner, P Turner, N Varley, A Waite, L Walsh, J Ward, J Wassell, J Waters, D Watson, J Wertheim, C Whitehead, W Whyte, G Williams, F Wilson, R Wilson, M Winn, K Wood, L Wood

Against (0): None

Abstain (2): J Read, R Scott

It was therefore resolved:

That the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan 2036 be withdrawn.