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Local Plan review (2016-2036) examination

Latest Examination News April 2024

Resumption of Local Plan Examination Hearings

At the Resumed Examination Hearing on 27 March 2024, the proposed new policy on Residential Development on Windfall Sites within and adjacent to Rural Settlements was discussed.  As a result the Borough Council agreed to revise the policy to cover windfall development across the Borough, for discussion on Tuesday 16 April at 09:30 at The Small Barn, Knights Hill Hotel, Kings Lynn, PE30 3HQ.

View Revised Draft New Policy, together with a Revised Hearing Programme.

Written comments on revised draft new policy are invited and must be submitted to annette.feeney@west-norfolk.gov.uk by 16:00 on Friday 12 April.

Additionally, the Inspector raised matters on Transport Evidence [G32], the councils response can be viewed under section "F" on our Examination Library Index page.

Interested parties who made representations on Policies LP01, LP02, LP04 and LP31 of the Plan at the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission consultation stage and those who made representations on the draft New Policy on Windfall Sites in response to the consultation on Further Evidence in September/October 2023 may also attend the discussion of the revised policy, scheduled for Tuesday 16 April 2024 at 09:30 AM.

If you wish to participate in Hearing sessions, please confirm this with Annette Feeney by Wednesday 10 April.

The resumed Examination Hearings are scheduled for the following dates:

  • Week 3: 26-28 March 2024; (agendas for each session: G28, G29 and G30)
  • Week 4: 16-19 April 2024; (agendas for each session: G34, G35, G36 and G37)
  • Week 5: 3-4 September 2024

All documents for the Resumed Hearing sessions can be found in the Examination Library or using the links below:

  • View Resumed Hearing Statements under Section “K”;
  • Inspectors Resumed Hearing Examination Guidance Note [G22];
  • Additional Schedule of Matters, Issues and Questions (MIQs) for the Examination Parts 1 and 2 [G24], plus Addendum [G25] and corrections [G27]

All hearings will be held at The Small Barn, Knight’s Hill Hotel and Spa, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE30 3HQ. For times refer to Agendas above.

NB! With regard to the new NPPF and the transitional arrangements that will apply to this Examination, there is a footnote in the AMIQs [G24] which explains that the Local Plan will continue to be examined under 2021 NPPF. The Inspectors will also include reference to it in their opening at the resumed Hearing. All documents will be available on this webpage at the appropriate time, in advance of the hearings.

Consultation for the Gypsy and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople Potential Sites and Policy (January - March 2024)

The Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA), June 2023 identified a need for at least 102 additional Gypsy and Traveller pitches over the remainder of the Plan period (2023/24 – 2038/39). This figure has since been adjusted to 97, to take account of recently consented Gypsy and Traveller pitches (sites).

The Council has a legal responsibility to provide pitches for Gypsies and Travellers in the Borough, to meet the accommodation needs of these groups. The Inspectors wrote to the Council on 21 June 2023, setting out what we need to do to meet our obligations and allow the Local Plan to pass. Since June we have been considering how the identified needs could be met. This included a call for sites (October – November 2023), where landowners and/or agents were invited to put forward potential sites.

The Council is now consulting upon potential policies and site allocations. The consultation on the Gypsy and Traveller Potential Sites and Policy runs for 6 weeks from 26 January to 8 March 2024. The consultation asks for responses to these documents:

  1. Gypsy and Traveller Potential Sites and Policy Consultation Document [F55]
  2. Gypsy and Traveller Site Assessment Document [F56]
  3. Gypsy and Traveller Sustainability Appraisal [B10]
  4. Gypsy and Traveller Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Level [F57]

Erratum: Please note that reference to Walpole St Andrew in the documents is incorrect. These should be Marshland St James.

The list of possible sites is in the consultation document [F55]. More information is available through our FAQ document.

You can access the consultation and submit your response below.

GTTS consultation form

If you, or a person you represent, would prefer to write a response you can download the consultation form as a pdf or Word document below.

You can scan and email completed forms to lpr@west-norfolk.gov.uk or post them to:

Gypsy and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople Potential Sites and Policy Consultation
Planning Policy Team
Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
Kings Court
Chapel Street
King’s Lynn
PE30 1EX

Representations must be received by 11:59pm on Friday, 8 March 2024.

Following the close of the consultation, we will consider and process representations received. This will enable us to put forward a final set of proposed site allocations and policies for inclusion in the Local Plan. The final list of Gypsy and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople proposed site allocations and policies will be subject to a further round of consultation in the summer (May/June 2024). Gypsy and Traveller examination hearings will take place in September 2024.

All consultation feedback will be processed in accordance with the Council’s data protection policies and submitted to the Planning Inspectors to inform the examination.

Summary information about the progress of the Examination will be posted on the latest examination news page.

Further information about the Local Plan examination

Consultation on additional evidence base documents (September – October 2023) and the next stages in the examination process

The first round of Local Plan examination hearings was held during December 2022/ January 2023. In January the Inspectors adjourned the hearings to allow the Council to undertake further work to justify the spatial strategy and distribution of housing in the Local Plan Review (Inspector's Examination Documents).

Following the adjournment, theCouncil produced a suite of Topic papers, addressing issues including the updated Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA), spatial strategy, settlement hierarchy, transport, housing land supply, the West Winch Growth Area and viability (examination references F44, F47-F53). These, with appendices for each, are available to view through the Consultation on additional evidence base documents and the Examination Library Index pages.

These Topic papers (F44, F47-F53) were subject to 6-weeks consultation, from 8 September to 20 October 2023, inclusive. 51 separate responses were received during the consultation, making around 450 separate comments (representations).

These representations in response to the consultation on the Additional Evidence Base documents for the Local Plan Review have now been reviewed by the Council and submitted to the Inspectors for their consideration.

Summaries of the representations and the Council’s responses to them are available to view in the Examination Library [J1-J8], along with copies of the representations [J9-J59].

Dates and arrangements for the resumption of the Hearing will be announced on the website in due course and notified to all parties who have made representations on the Plan and the additional evidence.

Examination Library

Examination documents are available to download/view through the Examination Library index and from the links below.As the Local Plan examination progresses, other examination documents will be added to the relevant page(s), as necessary.

Other information regarding the Local Plan Review is available on our Local Plan Review (2016 to 2036) page.

Planning Inspectors

Planning Inspectors Karen Baker DipTP MA DipMP MRTPI and Mike Hayden BSc DipTP MRTPI have been appointed by the Secretary of State, to conduct the independent Examination of the Local Plan Review. The Inspectors' task is to consider whether the Council has complied with the legal requirements in preparing the Local Plan Review and whether the submitted Plan is sound, based on the criteria set out in paragraph 35 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021 (the Framework).

The Inspectors will take into account the representations made in response to the Regulation 19 consultation on the Plan (August September 2021), as far as they relate to soundness and legal compliance considerations. It is likely that a Hearing will take place to discuss the principal matters of soundness identified by the Inspectors, in the form of a series of informal round table discussions. Further details of any Hearing sessions will be notified and added to the website in due course.

At the end of the Examination, the Inspectors will prepare a report to the Council with precise recommendations. It is likely to include main modifications to the Plan to make it sound or legally compliant.

Programme Officer

The Programme Officer, Annette Feeney, will act as the contact for any person who has an interest in the Examination and as a liaison between the Inspectors, Council and Representors.

She is an independent Officer of the Examination and works on behalf of the Inspector to organise and manage the administrative and procedural elements of the Examination process. All examination documents will also be submitted through the Programme Officer.

Any matters that anyone wishes to raise with the Inspectors should be submitted via the Programme Officer.

Contact details:
Annette Feeney
Programme Officer c/o
Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
King’s Court Chapel Street
King’s Lynn
PE30 1EX
Mobile: 07775 771026
Email: annette.feeney@west-norfolk.gov.uk

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