Published: Tuesday, 25th October 2022
The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk’s Local Plan has reached its next milestone on the road to adoption.
The Planning Inspectorate has today (24 October 2022) published details of the ‘examination hearings’ it will conduct, along with their Matters, Issues and Questions which will set the agenda for each hearing. This Examination in Public is an important part of the process that the plan goes through.
The hearings will take place over 8 days across three weeks. The dates have been set as follows:
- 6, 7 & 8 December 2022
- 10, 11 & 12 January 2023
- 25 & 26 January 2023
These hearings will all take place at South Lynn Community Centre, 10 Saint Michael's Road, King's Lynn, England, PE30 5HE.
The Examination in Public is about assessing the Local Plan against the tests of soundness:
- Positively Prepared (it meets local needs for housing jobs);
- Justified (it is supported by evidence);
- Effective (the plan policies are workable and will do what is required); and
- Consistent with National Policy (NPPF).
The Programme Officer will be writing to anyone who participated in the previous consultation undertaken in August/September 2021, advising them of where and when the hearings are taking place and inviting them to participate. The Planning Inspector will decide who can attend and when they can attend.
The hearings are open to the public, so anyone can come along and observe, but only those invited by the Planning Inspector will be able to participate.
Preparation of the Local Plan started in October 2016. This involved multiple consultations, working with Members (through the Local Plan Task Group) to develop an effective and up to date replacement for the previous Plan.
An initial draft Local Plan was consulted upon during spring 2019 and again in August/September 2021. The Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for examination in March 2022
During the examination the Inspector may recommend modifications to make the plan sound. The council would then hold a Main Modifications Consultation. All comments would then be sent to the Planning Inspector, who would review them and then write their final report. If the Local Plan is found to be sound, it would be adopted towards the end of 2023.
Any queries about the Local Plan Examination process should be directed to the Programme Officer annette.feeney@west-norfolk.gov.uk.
Further details are available through Local Plan Examination web pages on west-norfolk.gov.uk.