1.1.1 Burnley’s Local Plan covers the whole of Burnley borough for the period from 2012 to 2032. It provides the statutory planning framework for the borough. The Local Plan will be used to guide decisions on planning applications and areas where investment should be prioritised. It replaces the 2006 Burnley Local Plan Second Review. A separate Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocations development plan document (DPD) is also proposed to supplement the Plan to meet the identified need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches.
1.1.2 The Plan contains a vision, objectives and an overall strategy for development. It includes policies on both the scale of development and its overall pattern across the borough. It allocates many of the sites that are needed to accommodate new development along with areas to be protected or enhanced. It also sets out policies on how planning applications on allocated and ‘windfall’ sites will be judged.
1.1.3 The Plan will provide developers, residents and service providers some certainty about what sites will be developed in the future and for what purposes. It indicates how public and private sector action will achieve the Plan’s objectives and it establishes a framework for monitoring whether the Plan and its policies are being achieved.
1.1.4 The Local Plan begins with an explanation about Burnley’s Local Plan and a summary of its development. It is then set out as follows:
1.1.5 This Local Plan does not cover minerals and waste planning as this is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council. The adopted Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan forms part of the development plan for Burnley.
1.1.6 The policies of the Local Plan supersede all the formerly saved policies from the Burnley Local Plan of 2006.
1.1.7 Appendix 3 contains a full list of the policies which are now superseded and those policies considered to have replaced them.
1.2.1 Local Plans are not prepared in a vacuum. They are drawn up in accordance with the legislation governing plan-making and in the context of national planning policy with which they must be consistent. They are also prepared having regard to other relevant local strategies and the plans of other public bodies, including those of neighbouring authorities.
National Planning Policy
1.2.2 The Local Plan is prepared in the context of national planning policy set out principally in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in March 2012, and more detailed National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG). (See Note on Revised NPPF after para 1.5.2 on Page 6)
1.2.3 The NPPF (paragraph 7) states that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and sets out the three dimensions to sustainable development: economic, social and environmental, and the need for the planning system to perform a number of roles in this regard.
1.2.4 Legislation requires that plans are “sound” and one of the four tests of soundness set out in the NPPF is that plans are consistent with national policy.
Relationship with other Local Plans and the Duty to Cooperate
1.2.5 As a statutory consultee, the Council is consulted by, and in turn consults with, neighbouring local authorities in the preparation of Local Plans. In addition, councils and a number of other public sector bodies and service providers are required to cooperate proactively on strategic cross-boundary matters in the preparation of Local Plans (for the Council this is both a legal requirement and relates to the tests of soundness). The Council has cooperated with the relevant bodies in developing the Plan and in the preparation of the evidence base that will be used to support the Local Plan. This includes the Strategic Housing Market Assessment, the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessment and a number of technical studies on landscape and wind energy development. In accordance with the Duty to Cooperate, partners were involved in early discussions about the issues affecting Burnley and Local Plan options that could help deal with these and helped build an understanding of strategic and cross-boundary issues.
Lancashire Enterprise Partnership
1.2.6 The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is dedicated to driving local growth through the delivery of a number of strategic economic priorities and national initiatives, with a focus on securing prosperity for the whole of Lancashire.
1.2.7 The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal received £84.2million in its first year, and as part of the Government’s on-going commitment to the LEP it provided an indicative award of a further £149.6million of funding from 2016/17 onwards. The deal was to help create up to 5,000 jobs, allow more than 6,000 homes to be built and generate up to £140 million in public and private investment.
1.2.8 Within Burnley, the Growth Deal has directly funded projects such as the Burnley–Pendle Growth Corridor, which targeted junction improvements and other transport improvements to release additional site capacity and enable quicker movement of goods, services and people through this key economic corridor, and the Centenary Way viaduct maintenance scheme.
East Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan
1.2.9 Transport provision and infrastructure across the borough is currently coordinated by Lancashire County Council as the local transport and highway authority. The County Council developed the Local Transport Plan (LTP)1 which the Local Plan must have regard to. As part of the LTP, the East Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan was adopted by the County Council in February 2014. The Masterplan sets out how the area’s roads, rail and cycle networks could be transformed in the future, by improving connections to neighbouring areas, and travel opportunities within East Lancashire and its communities.
1.2.10 The Masterplan identified a number of opportunities to enable East Lancashire as a whole to improve transport infrastructure and connectivity to the rest of Lancashire and adjoining city regions of Leeds and Manchester. The main opportunity identified in the Masterplan which directly relates to the borough is the development of the Burnley-Pendle Growth Corridor strategy. This strategy identified a number of proposals to provide additional capacity on the highway network and reduce congestion. (See Section 5.7)
1.2.11 The Masterplan was the first step towards ensuring the transport network is appropriate to boost economic growth by supporting new businesses and homes while promoting healthy lifestyles and avoiding gridlock on the roads.
1.2.12 The Masterplan set in motion detailed work needed to justify investment in new transport and connectivity schemes, including:
Burnley's Future 2017 - 2020: The Community Strategy for Burnley
1.2.13 Although there is no longer a statutory requirement to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy, ‘Burnley's Future’ was updated in 2017 to provide a framework for organisations to deliver services that meet the needs of the borough and improve life in the borough for all. Its overarching strategic priorities are:
1.2.14 Burnley's Local Plan provides an important means of articulating these priorities spatially.
1.3.1 The Local Plan must be prepared with a view to contributing towards the achievement of sustainable development. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires all Local Plans to be subject to Sustainability Appraisal (SA) to assess the social, environmental and economic effects of the policies and proposals in the Local Plan. SA is an iterative process that is undertaken throughout the development of the Local Plan as options are explored and refined and policies produced. A final SA Report detailing the process and the effect it has had on the production of the Local Plan is produced alongside the final version of the Local Plan.
1.3.2 The Local Plan also requires a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in accordance with the requirements of the European Directive 2001/42/EC (the ‘SEA’ Directive) as transposed into English law by the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004. This assessment considers the environmental effects of the Plan.
1.3.3 Although the requirements to carry out SA and SEA are separate and the scope of the assessments differ, national policy recommends that these should be integrated into a single, integrated appraisal process. Consequently, in this Plan, the term 'SA' should be taken to mean 'SA incorporating the requirements of the SEA Directive' unless indicated otherwise.
1.4.1 The EC Habitats Directive 1992 as transposed into UK law by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations (2017) require a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) of land use plans to establish whether the plan alone, or in combination with other plans or projects, is likely to have a significant effect on a European Site (Special Protection Areas (SPA), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) or Ramsar site - collectively called Natura 2000 sites). If this is the case, then the impacts on the integrity of the Site must be considered by an Appropriate Assessment.
1.4.2 Under normal circumstances, a land use plan can be brought into effect only after it has been ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of a Site in terms of the Site’s conservation objectives. A Habitats Regulations Assessment (Screening Assessment and Appropriate Assessment) has been carried out of the Local Plan and this is published separately.
1.5.1 Following consultation on Issues and Options in 2014 which encouraged early involvement in the Plan's preparation, a Preferred Options draft of the Local Plan was issued for consultation in July 2016. The comments received in response to this Preferred Options consultation were considered and a Proposed Submission Document was published for statutory consultation in April 2017. This was then submitted to the Secretary of State for independent Examination in July 2017.
1.5.2 Following the Examination, the Inspector issued his final report on 9 July 2018 and the Plan with ‘main modifications’ was adopted by the Council on 31 July 2018.
Note on the Revised NPPF:
The Government issued a revised NPPF on the 24 July 2018. Its paragraph 124 sets out transitional arrangements for plan-making and states that:
“The policies in the previous Framework will apply for the purpose of examining plans, where those plans are submitted on or before 24 January 2019. Where such plans are withdrawn or otherwise do not proceed to become part of the development plan, the policies contained in this Framework will apply to any subsequent plan produced for the area concerned.”
References in this Plan to the NPPF therefore continue to refer to the NPPF published in March 2012.
1 A plan which set out the objectives and plans for developing transport in an area.