Planning policy

Information about local, regional and national planning policies, our publications list and monitoring information

The Vale of Aylesbury Plan

On 19 July 2011, Cabinet met to discuss the possible content of the Vale of Aylesbury Plan, the timeline for its production and processes for community and stakeholder involvement.

The Cabinet report is available to download by clicking here.
 

Changes to planning policy

Since the new coalition government came to power, there have been a number of changes to planning policy.

Before 6 July 2010, housing targets for each area were set by regional spatial strategies (RSS). The RSS for Aylesbury Vale was the South East Plan (SEP). On 6 July, the coalition government withdrew these regional spatial strategies, meaning that housing targets no longer applied.

At that time, we were waiting for the inspector’s report following a public inquiry earlier in the year into the proposed new core strategy for Aylesbury Vale District. This would determine where new housing would be built. Because the proposed Aylesbury Vale District Core Strategy 2009 had been based on targets and guidance set out in the SEP, which has now been withdrawn, we formally withdrew the core strategy on 5 October 2010. (You can download a copy of the letter from the Secretary of State telling us to withdraw the strategy below).

However, at the time, the decision by the government to withdraw the RSS was being legally challenged by Cala Homes property developers. The high court made a decision on 10 November, and the policies in the South East Plan were re-established, together with the number of houses and where they would be distributed. They will form part of the planning policy framework until the government passes the Localism Bill. However, a second challenge in the high court has decided that we can take account of the fact that the South East Plan is to be withdrawn when planning housing in the future.

We withdrew the Aylesbury Vale Core Strategy before the high court judgments, and the decision to withdraw the strategy is not affected by these judgements. This means the core strategy policies for delivering the SEP are still withdrawn from the planning process. It would serve little purpose for us to set up the core strategy again as the Localism Bill is due to come into force.

The Vale of Aylesbury Plan is being prepared taking these proposed changes into account.

We have developed web pages for the Vale of Aylesbury Plan and you can see these by following the link on the left.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The government issued a draft NPPF in mid 2011. Our response to this consultation is downloadable using the below link.