Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Environment which sought approval for a six week period of public consultation (24 September to 5 November 2009) of the content of the Halton Core Strategy Preferred Options document.

   The Board was advised that subsequent to the period of public consultation on the Core Strategy Preferred Options document and the collation and consideration of representations made, the team would begin to work on the Core Strategy Publication document. This would be the final stage of significant preparation of the Core Strategy. The Publication document would be published for a six-week consultation period, where representations would be able to be made.  However, it was reported that  these may only relate to issues of the soundness of the DPD.

            The Board was further advised that the preparation of the Publication document was due to commence in November 2009, with it being published for consultation in September 2010.  Following this period and the completion of any changes to the document, the Core Strategy would be submitted to the Secretary of State in December 2010. The subsequent public examination of the document was due to commence in April 2010.

            In addition, following the public examination, and taking into consideration the Inspector’s Binding Report, it was anticipated that the Council would adopt the Core Strategy in October 2011.

Reason (s) For Decision

Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, the production of a DPD must involve several important stages of preparation. This “Preferred Options” stage of the Core Strategy represents the second crucial stage in document preparation, and follows from the “Issues and Options” papers, which were subject to public consultation in 2006.

Alternative Options Considered And Rejected

This is a statutory step of plan making that is defined in law and as such there are no alternative options available.                          

 Implementation Date

 This decision will be implemented via a public consultation held   

  between the 24^th September and 5^th November 2009.

RESOLVED: That

(1)         The Halton Core Strategy Preferred Options document be approved for the purposes of a six-week period of public consultation;

(2)         Further editorial and technical amendments that do not materially affect the content of the Halton Core Strategy Preferred Options document be agreed by the Operational Director - Environmental and Regulatory Services in consultation with the Executive Board Member for Planning, Transportation, Regeneration and Renewal, as necessary, before the document is published for public consultation; and

(3)    The results of the statutory public consultation exercise on the Halton Core Strategy Preferred Options document be reported back to the Executive Board following the consultation period.