Issue details

To seek endorsement and a recommendation to Council to approve the Schedule of Main Modifications to the Local Plan for public consultation, alongside changes to the Policies Map and Additional Modifications, as part of the Examination process into the Fareham Local Plan 2037.

The Fareham Borough Local Plan 2037 (‘the Plan’) seeks to meet housing and employment needs for the borough on a range of sites whilst tackling congestion, protecting settlement gaps and enhancing biodiversity.

The Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in September 2021 with a Planning Inspector appointed shortly after to conduct the examination.  There are three possible findings that an Inspector may make following the examination; an unsound plan, a sound plan or recommendations to make main modifications such that the plan could be found sound.  Main modifications are changes that materially affect one or more of the plan’s policies.

The examination started after the plan was submitted with hearings conducted in March and April 2022.  Following the conclusion of the hearings, the Inspector has written twice to the Council, first in a Post Hearings Letter in June 2022 and subsequently a Further Post Hearings Letter in September 2022.  These letters express her views on a range of topics and have requested further work, most notably the production of topic papers and a focussed consultation which was the subject of a report to the Executive in July 2022.  During the hearings and in those letters, the Inspector has requested a number of main modifications to the Plan where she feels that are needed to make the Plan sound.  These main modifications must be consulted upon as part of the examination process.

Alongside the main modifications, public consultation must take place on any changes to the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) of the plan (see appendix 2 and 3 respectively) as well as any associated changes to the Policies Map (see appendix 4).

Officers have also identified a series of Additional Modifications which do not materially affect the Plan’s policies and are either factual or spelling corrections.  There is no requirement to consult on these modifications, but approval is sought to make these changes to the Plan.  The schedule of additional modifications can be found in appendix 5.