Housing secretary intervenes to prevent Surrey council from withdrawing local plan

Michael Gove has used legal powers to prevent a council from withdrawing its local plan.

The housing secretary has made a direction under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 after Mole Valley District Council prosed to vote on on withdrawing its local plan.

In a letter dated 25 January, housing minister Lee Rowley MP, informed Stephen Cooksey, the leader of Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) that the local authority must not withdraw its 2020-2037 local plan, which is currently under examination by the government.

The Surrey council’s last local plan was adopted in 2009, and the letter stated that the emerging local plan is “at a very advanced stage of the examination”.

MVDC submitted its 2020-37 local plan to the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities for independent examination in February 2022.

>> See also: Key takeaways from Gove’s big planning speech

>> See also: Housing minister blocks Surrey council from withdrawing local plan

Rowley’s letter added: “Withdrawing the plan at this very advanced stage of preparation will extend the period in which the council has had no up-to-date local plan in place.”

He stated that if the council were to withdraw the draft local plan, it would be left with one of the oldest local plans in the country.

Under the  Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the secretary of state has powers to intervene if he thinks that a local planning authority is failing or omitting to do anything it is necessary for them to do in connection with the preparation, revision or adoption of their local plan.

In December 2023, Mole Valley announced that it had paused the examination of its local plan pending clarity on government policy following changes proposed to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2022.

This follows from Margaret Cooksey, cabinet member for planning at Mole Valley District Council, to Michael Gove in July last year requesting for proposed changes to the NPPF to be published as soon as possible, stating that the district had been subject to “a spate of speculative applications while this NPPF hiatus continues”.

Cooksey said that the NPPF consultation which concluded in March 2023 suggested that MVDC might not be required to reassess the district’s green belt to meet housing needs.

>>See also: Will Gove’s latest local plan reforms have a positive impact on delivery?

>>See also: Gove’s big planning speech

Following the publication of the new NPPF in December, Cooksey gave the following statement: “I could not be more disappointed. The new NPPF includes a provision appearing to mean, for the purposes of our Local Plan examination, that MVDC is not allowed to use the new NPPF at all. This was not something that was in the consultation draft produced by the government and, in essence, means that MVDC will have waited 12 months for clarification of government policy, only to be told it cannot be used. We feel very disappointed by the secretary of state’s decision and badly let down.”

Before the government’s direction, three options had been set out as by MVDC, including withdrawal of the plan, continuation of the plan as submitted (including green belt sites) or request that the planning inspector change the plan to remove all green belt sites.

In a statement published yesterday, Margaret Cooksey said: “This new direction takes option A away from us and requires Mole Valley District Council to report monthly to the Minister’s officials on the progress of the examination. It will remain in force until the examination concludes with the Inspector’s report.”

MVDC held an extraordinary council meeting yesterday evening, in which councillors discussed the two remaining options for the local plan. 

During Gove’s speech announcing the new NPPF on 19 December 2023, he targeted seven councils that have not adopted a local plan and have not submitted a draft plan for examination, ordering that they publish a plan timetable within 12 weeks. 

These councils included Amber Valley, Ashfield, Basildon, Castle Point, Medway, St Albans City and District council and Uttlesford District council.