1.1 The Local Plan is split into two parts. The first stage, Local Plan Part I, took effect on 15th December 2014. It sets out how much land for housing and employment will be needed and the sorts of places where it will be acceptable for it to be located. It also identifies a number of “strategic” development sites.
1.2 The purpose of Mendip District Local Plan Part II - Sites and Policies is to:
1.3 Local Plan Part I (LPP1) and Local Plan Part II (LPP2) are complementary documents and should be read together. Local Plan Part I sets out a long-term strategic vision for the future of the district and sets out how Mendip District Council (the Council) intends to stimulate the development which the district needs, including housing, economic development and infrastructure. It puts in place a selection of policies to manage development in a manner appropriate to this district which generic national polices do not adequately cover.
1.4 Local Plan Part II allocates specific sites for development or for other purposes in line with the intentions of the policies in Local Plan Part I. Both the policies and the supporting text make up the statutory Development Plan for the purposes of determining planning applications. Local Plan Part II was adopted on 20th December 2021.
1.5 Local Plan Part I establishes an overarching development vision and key objectives for the district. All other parts of the planning framework for the district must be aligned with its intentions in order that a coherent and consistent basis for decision making is in place.
1.6 Local Plan Part II identifies additional sites and sets out additional development management policies to meet objectives set out in Local Plan Part I and the NPPF.
1.7 In addition to the development plan, the Council may also produce Supplementary Planning Documents which will provide details of how policies in the development plan will be implemented in practice.
1.8 Neighbourhood Plans can be prepared by Parish and Town Councils and are an additional way in which sites and policies promoting development can be drawn up to reflect the needs of local communities. Once “made” Neighbourhood Plans have the same status in planning decisions as the Local Plan.
1.9 A schedule of the documents which make up the development plan for Mendip, relevant guidance and community plans is published on the Mendip website.1
1.10 Local Plan Part II is supported by a number of background papers and statutory documents which are required as part of the development plan process. Documents that were published alongside the pre-submission consultation were:
Documents published at submission were:
1.11 Background papers cover housing land and future supply.
1.12 Sustainability Appraisal is a mandatory requirement and helps to ensure the objective of achieving sustainable development is fully considered in preparing plans. Sustainability Appraisal incorporates the requirements of the EU Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The auditing process of the Sustainability Appraisal leads to more informed and transparent decision-making and helps to achieve the aims of sustainable development.
1.13 The Council have prepared a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of the Plan. SA is iterative and integrated into the plan-making process, influencing the selection of site options and policies through the assessment of likely significant effects.
1.14 A SA report was published for consultation alongside the Pre-submission Plan and updated at submission and through the examination process. A summary of the SA process and revisions is contained in the SA adoption statement (Dec 2021)
1 http://www.mendip.gov.uk/lds
1.15 Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) is required following a European Court of Justice ruling that land use plans should be subject to an appropriate assessment of their implications for European wildlife sites and protected species. These include Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and species protected under regulation 10 of the Habitat Regulations 1994. An HRA was published alongside the Pre-Submission Plan taking account of Proposed Changes with supplementary updates associated with Main Modifications. The HRA has also been updated following Natural England advice of the impact of excessive phosphates on the condition of the Somerset Levels and Moors RAMSAR. An adoption version of the HRA (v4 December 2021) is available with this Plan. Recommendations in the HRA are incorporated into policy and development allocations.
1.16 The Plan is prepared under a legal 'duty to cooperate' requirement through the Localism Act 2011 which requires local authorities to work with neighbouring authorities and other prescribed bodies when preparing a development plan document. There are major proposals in the Part II plan which have cross-boundary implications.
1.17 The Council have been engaged with neighbouring authorities and statutory consultees throughout the preparation of the Local Plan Part I, which sets the framework for Local Plan Part II. The spatial strategy and level of development are considered to be strategic issues where the duty to cooperate has been addressed through Local Plan Part I.
1.18 There is an ongoing discussion with neighbouring authorities on their own development plans. There are no proposals in neighbouring districts which set out expectations for housing or employment growth in Mendip to meet the needs of neighbouring areas.
1.19 An updated statement on the Duty to Co-operate was prepared at Submission stage.
1.20 A range of infrastructure providers have been consulted during the preparation of this plan. The Infrastructure Delivery Plan provides an overview of Infrastructure constraints at settlement and site allocation level. Advice received on specific sites has been included in the site allocation policies.
1.21 An Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment was published with the Pre-submission Plan. These assessments are a systematic way of examining whether new policies differentially affect any person or groups of people.
1.22 Preparation of this Plan has involved three significant consultation exercises: a district wide Issues and Options Consultation; an informal consultation with parish and town councils on site options and a Pre-submission consultation in January 2018. Additional consultation took place on Proposed Changes in February 2019 which were examined with the Plan. Further information can be found in the statement of consultation. Additional consultation was undertaken on Main Modifications and Additional Main Modifications during the examination.
1.23 The Policies Map will be revised following adoption to include changes to development limits and other designations set out in this plan. Changes to the Policies Map are shown in schedules and versions of the Plan published at submission and at examination. This has included any revisions needed to correct errors or deletions to saved policy.
1.24 Local Plan Part I contains a policy monitoring framework (in Appendix 2) which sets out indicators and topics against which monitoring will be reported.
1.25 Updates on housing/employment delivery and supply are published on the Mendip website including current five year housing supply .
1.26 A ‘Delivery Action Plan’ will be developed and published separately from Local Plan Part II. This will set out progress on major sites and specific measures to bring forward housing and employment delivery.
1 http://www.mendip.gov.uk/lds
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