Purpose

1. To inform the Cabinet and seek their
agreement of the content of a draft Masterplan Supplementary
Planning Document (SPD) which is being produced to supplement the
policies of the Bracknell Forest Local Plan.
2. Seek approval for public consultation on the draft SPD.

Decision

RESOLVED that
 

i.     
the content of the Draft Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document
(Appendix A) be approved.
 

ii.    
public consultation on the Draft Masterplan SPD (Appendix A) be
approved beginning on Wednesday 25th March and ending on Friday
24th April as set out in Section 8 of this report.
 

iii.   
authority be delegated to the Executive Director: Place in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and
Countryside to approve any necessary minor amendments to the Draft
Masterplan SPD prior to public consultation.

Reasons for the decision

i.     
Applications are being determined in accordance with the BFLP. It
is important that associated guidance is provided to allow the
effective assessment of masterplans in order to avoid ambiguity
relating to types of sites requiring masterplans, and to set out
the Council’s expectations in relation to the preparation and
approval of masterplans.
 

ii.    
A statutory stage in the production of a SPD is public consultation
on a draft document. Therefore, an effective consultation on the
Masterplan SPD will ensure it can be adopted and become a material
consideration in the assessment of relevant masterplans.

Alternative options considered

i.     
The Council could decide not to produce a SPD. The absence of an
adopted up to date SPD would make the assessment of masterplans
open to interpretation and could result in inconsistencies of
approach.
 

ii.    
Production of the SPD will assist potential developers by providing
clarity on the Council’s expectations on how policies should
be applied. In providing clarity, the Council is less likely to be
put into an appeal position with a need to defend policies on these
matters (reducing the financial and time burden on Council
resources).
 

iii.   
It should also be noted that due to forthcoming changes to plan
making regulations, the Government has indicated that current
provisions for the production of SPDs may cease on 30 June 20261.
Therefore, delaying this consultation could result in the Council
being unable to adopt the document as a SPD.