Following the Extraordinary Council Meeting on 6 June 2023 where a motion was agreed to pause the remainder of the Local Plan examination hearings, the Chief Executive has written to the Planning Inspector to put forward this request on behalf of the Council.
On Thursday 8 June, the Inspector has written to the Council in which he states, "Having carefully considered the Council's request, I agree that in this specific circumstance a pause in the examination for a period of three months would be reasonable."
The Local Plan sets out where and when homes will be built up until 2037 and had reached the examination stage with an independent government inspector.
Our support for the draft Local Plan has been often publicly stated. It is not perfect but there are huge risks if we do not have a Plan, even for a short period. Our view was that the Examination in Public should go ahead as it is vital that Spelthorne has a valid and approved Local Plan in place to prevent the possibility of predatory planning applications for sites like Kempton Park, Stratton Road as well as sites in Staines, if there is no Plan as context for their consideration.
Though unsuccessful, we are grateful to councillors Sandra Dunn (Halliford and Sunbury West), Buddhi Weerasinghe (Sunbury East) and Matthew Lee (Sunbury East) for their support in opposing the motion.
