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A new Borough-wide Local Plan

On 25th June 2015 the Infrastructure, Planning and Contracts Committee met to consider the need for a New Borough-wide Local Plan and new Local Development Scheme; 
They agreed to commence preparation of a new Borough-wide Local Plan, and approved the Local Development Scheme (Annex 1) that set out the work programme required to deliver the new Local Plan.

So Kingstons' planning policy and documents are now in the process of being rewritten.

Why this matters to us
Planning policy is at the core of determining what can and cannot be built - so getting this right is key. Although these changes wont take effect for two years, they will inform incoming developments from now on. We must be engaged in this process now, to ensure we can get the best possible planning decisions when these policies come into force.

Timetable
  1. Direction of Travel Consultation (LIVE)  - Autumn 2016
  2. Issues & Options consultation  - Winter 2016/17
  3. Preferred Options consultation - Summer/Autumn 2017
  4. Publication version - Winter 2017/18
  5. Submission version - Spring 2018
  6. Examination in Public  - Summer/Autumn 2018
  7. Inspector’s report  - Winter 2018/19
  8. Adoption - Spring 2019
The current Planning policy isn't working
1) Tall Buildings SPD is missing - It has been reasoned that if we specify a height then everyone will build up to that height; but we have seen what happens with the alternative: the unspecified EQDB heights are being tested application by application. We are currently looking at two proposals with two competing towers of near identical height when the Area Action Plan only envisioned one landmark. Not having a tall buildings SPD is not working. To say nothing of the economic waste this is causing the 20 groups that have to fight for common sense in each and every case.

2) Conservation Area Statements are missing - We have been unable to find policy documents that cover conservation areas and their protection.

Picture
The process is deeply suspicious
We have serious concerns over who or what is driving policy for our built environment. Residents should be at the heart of policy - not developers, business or personal ambition. 

We have concerns over pressing ahead with Opportunity Area status for large parts of Kingston. Leading to an unprecedented scale of growth and impact on Kingston - which no-one appears to know about. Nor are the implications known:
 "I don't know what the downsides [of an Opportunity Area] are" - Council Leader, 25th June 2015
The All-In-One survey is being cited as a mandate, but the questions on growth were too general to be at all meaningful as a pretext for the scale of growth envisaged. We disagree with this statement:
10. The Council’s recent All in One survey demonstrates a clear positive attitude amongst residents towards future growth and development with 68% of respondents considering Kingston should embrace growth and work with developers to maintain it’s position in London as a place where people want to live, work and study. 
The public has not been consulted, nor is it represented in the decision-making process such as on the Strategic Growth Board.

Questions we raised at the meeting:
  1. Is there a problem with assuming Councillors have a mandate to change the character of Kingston based upon the All-in-one survey?
  2. What is the driver behind the Opportunity area? is it what residents want? what are you doing to engage with residents to find out if they support this? - what is the down side?
  3. We repeated our request to the Leader of the Council for an SPD for tall buildings.
  4. KingstonFutures, KingstonFirst - these are for businesses. What or who is putting residents first?
  5. Do they agree now is not the time to rush, it is the time to proceed with great care to ensure that the new wave of development avoids past mistakes?

Extracts from the meeting report ( available here -  scroll down to Appendix E )
Some SPDs may be cancelled
Following adoption of the new Local Plan, the status of existing Supplemental Planning Documents will need to be considered and addressed. In some cases (where the policies to which they relate do not change) the content of an SPD may remain valid; but it will be prudent to publicly restate/re-publish this, with any necessary updating, which may be required. In other instances, where policy will change, as is likely to happen in relation to matters such as affordable housing, the relevant SPD may need to be formally cancelled and new SPD prepared and published.
Neighbourhood Planning 
24. The Localism Act 2011 enables local communities through the establishment of Neighbourhood Forums to prepare Neighbourhood Plans for their local area. The Plans should set out how growth will be accommodated, and need to be in conformity with the objectives and policies of the Core Strategy. 

25. The Council’s role in Neighbourhood Planning is to provide advice and support to communities to help them prepare their Plans, and once approved at independent Examination, to adopt the Neighbourhood Plan as part of the Development Plan. Adopted Neighbourhood Plans must be taken into account in planning application decision-making.
 
26. To date there has been some community interest in some parts of the Borough, but no Neighbourhood Forums or Neighbourhood Plans have been set up or progressed. "
Key points - as stated by RBK Director of Place
A. The National Planning Policy Framework requires Council’s to undertake a full objective assessment of the need for housing. This combined with the new challenging minimum housing and employment delivery requirements set out in the March 2015 London Plan cannot be achieved through the Council’s existing planning policy documents. 

B. These changes and the Council’s regeneration ambitions that exceed the growth set out in the Council’s currently adopted Core Strategy and Area Action Plan for Kingston town centre require the production of a new Borough-wide Local Plan. 

C. The new Local Plan will identify how the Council intends to meet the new housing and employment needs. To successfully deliver government requirements and those of the London Plan all potential land options will need to be considered and tested including possibly sites currently subject to designations for other uses. 

D. The Council is taking a proactive approach to meeting these challenges through its Kingston Futures Regeneration initiative, and intends to deliver a large proportion of the growth requirement on brownfield land including within the Kingston Opportunity Area. 

E. To maximise the longevity of the new Local Plan, preparation will be programmed to follow the next iteration of the London Plan as that document has now started early production stages. Best estimates indicate the London Plan could be adopted by winter 2018/19, and the Local Plan would follow shortly afterwards. 

F. The new Local Plan will gather weight as it proceeds through production, and will need to be considered alongside the existing adopted documents in decision making. When adopted the new Local Plan will replace the Council’s Core Strategy and Kingston town centre Area Action Plan and any Supplementary documents that E1 Appendix E are based on policies not taken forward through the new Local Plan will also be cancelled. 

. The Council is required to publicise the planning policy documents it intends to prepare in a Local Development Scheme. Any new revised version of this document is appended to this report 

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