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Submission Updates & Inspector's Documents

15th July 2020
The Northumberland National Park Local Plan has been formally adopted by members at a Full Authority meeting held on 15th July. The adopted version of the Local Plan can be found on our Local Plan page. This now replaces all policies of the former Core Strategy (2009). In accordance with Reg. 35, our Adoption Statement, Sustainability Appraisal and information on judicial appeals can all be found on our Consultation page.

25th June 2020
NNPA is required to maintain an updated Policies Map, as set out in paragraph 7 of the Inspector’s Report. This version is to accompany the Local Plan if adopted by the Authority. An interactive version is also available online.

18th June 2020
NNPA received the Inspector’s Report on 17th June. The Report concludes that the Local Plan is sound with a number of modifications already consulted on.

This Appendix to the Inspector’s Report contains the list of modifications. Some of the paragraph numbers used in the Appendix have now changed, and a list of the changes can be found here.

A final version of the Local Plan, with the modifications embedded, has been produced. The Authority will now consider the Local Plan for adoption on the 15th July 2020. The Local Plan will carry significant weight in planning decisions prior to adoption as per Paragraph 48 of the NPPF (February 2019).

A notice has been e-mailed out to all Local Plan consultees outlining the above.

7th May 2020
The Consultation on the Main Modifications has closed. Comments were received from the following respondents [click to view]:
Coal Authority
Highways England
Historic England – Local Plan comments and SEA comments
Home Builders Federation
Minerals Products Association
National Grid
Natural England
Northumberland County Council
Scottish Borders Council – no comments

12th March 2020
The Authority has agreed a Schedule of Main Modifications with the Inspector, considered necessary to make the Local Plan sound.
A Tracked Main Modifications Local Plan has also been published to show the changes within the full Local Plan document.
A further Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment have been prepared to take account of the Main Modifications.

These documents will be subject to a 7-week consultation period from the 17th March 2020 to the 5th May 2020.
The documents will be available on our Local Plan Consultation page from the 17th March.

5th February 2020
During the hearing the Inspector gave the Authority additional time to consider Policy DM3. The letter below from NNPA to the Inspector highlights the conclusions made regarding that policy. A schedule of proposed modifications was also included presenting the proposed policy changes as an outcome.
NNPA Letter to Inspector – 5th February 2020
NNPA Modification Schedule (Local Centres only) – 5th February 2020

30th January 2020
The Inspector held an examination hearing at NNPA’s headquarters. It was concluded that the Authority had complied with the Duty to Cooperate and the Plan could be made sound subject to modifications.

17th January 2020
An updated Hearing Timetable and Agendas were received from the Inspector:
Agenda for Matter 1
Agenda for Matter 2
Agenda for Matter 3
Agenda for Matter 4
Agenda for Matter 5

13th December 2019
Deadline for submission of statements in response to the Inspector’s MIQs (see below).
The Programme Officer received only one response (in addition to the Authority):
EXMIQHBF – Matter 4 Housing (Home Builders Federation)

12th December 2019
NNPA submitted their responses to the Inspector’s MIQs. These can be seen below:
EXMIQ01 – Matter 1 Legal Requirements
EXMIQ02 – Matter 2 Duty to Cooperate
EXMIQ03 – Matter 3 Strategic Policies
EXMIQ04 – Matter 4 Housing
EXMIQ05 – Matter 5 DM Policies

In the Authority’s response (dated 15th Nov ’19) to the Inspector’s initial letter, it was considered that it was inappropriate to undertake an Appropriate Assessment. Natural England were consulted on the revised HRA (NNPA-006a) and concurred with this approach, through a letter, also submitted to the inspector on the 12th December 2019.

25th November 2019
The Inspector accepted a request from NNPA to add the Monitoring Report to the Examination Library – see NNPA-099 below.

15th November 2019
NNPA replied to the Inspector’s initial letter with a response on 15th November 2019. This letter confirmed receipt of the MIQs, Guidance and Timetable. The letter also responded to the Inspector’s queries on the Habitats Regulation Assessment. As a result, a new updated version has been added to the Examination Library below – see NNPA-006a which supersedes NNPA-006.

14th November 2019
As part of the initial letter the Inspector requested that document NNPA-002 Schedule of Modifications (see Examination Library below) be split into Main and Minor modifications. These new documents are available here (please note the original modification reference numbers within the document have been retained):
NNPA-002a Schedule of Main Modifications
NNPA-002b Schedule of Minor Modifications

12th November 2019
On the 12th November 2019 the Inspector sent through his Matters, Issues and Questions (MIQs) paper, Guidance Notes and Hearing Timetable.

7th November 2019
The Inspector has sent through initial queries/comments to the Authority which can be viewed here: Inspector’s Initial Queries to the Authority

1st October 2019
The Secretary of State has appointed Kevin Ward BA(Hons) MRTPI to conduct the examination into the Local Plan.

30th September 2019
The Northumberland National Park Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State (MHCLG) on 30th September 2019. There will now be an examination process before the plan can be adopted.

Examination

The public examination will take place at 10am on Thursday 30th January 2020 with Friday 31st held as a contingency day. The hearing will be held in the Committee Room at NNPA’s headquarters Eastburn, Hexham, NE46 1BS.

Those wishing to participate at the hearing must confirm this in writing to the Programme Officer by 5pm on Friday 29th November. All statements for the hearing sessions should be based on the MIQs document and be submitted to the Programme Officer by 5pm on Friday 13th December.

Programme Officer

Margaret Anderson has been appointed as the independent Programme Officer. Margaret will assist the Inspector and be responsible for all procedural matters around the examination.

E-mail: programmeofficer@nnpa.org.uk
Phone: 07795 834 950
Post: Margaret Anderson, c/o Planning Policy, Eastburn, South Park, Hexham, NE46 1BS.

Document Viewing

On the 30th September 2019, all documents submitted to the Secretary of State were also made available on this page. Hard-copies of the submitted Local Plan (and documents NNPA-002 to NNPA-004) were also sent to local libraries for public viewing. These are:

  • Bellingham Library, Bellingham Town Hall, Manchester Square, Bellingham, NE48 2AS.
  • Haltwhistle Library, Westgate, Haltwhistle, NE49 0AX.
  • Haydon Bridge Library, Church Street, Haydon Bridge, NE47 6JQ.
  • Hexham Library, Queens Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3LS.
  • Kielder Library, Kielder Community First School, Kielder, NE48 1HQ.
  • Rothbury Library, Front Street, Rothbury, NE65 7TZ.
  • Wooler Library, Cheviot Centre, Padgepool Place, Wooler, NE71 6BL.

The Examination Library below can be downloaded as a PDF list here.

Examination Library

These are the documents submitted for the examination of the Local Plan

Core Documents

NNPA-001 Publication Draft Local Plan – the main policy document. This is unchanged from the last round of public consultation.
NNPA-002 Schedule of Modifications – showing proposed changes to the Publication Draft Local Plan. We are requesting the Inspector considers these proposed changes.
NNPA-003 Tracked Modifications Local Plan – a copy of the Publication Draft Local Plan with the proposed changes from the Schedule of Modifications incorporated clearly into the document.
NNPA-004 Policies Map – a map accompanying the above documents to show where different policies apply in the National Park. Also see interactive version.

NNPA-005 Sustainability Appraisal – also see non-technical summary
NNPA-006 Habitats Regulations Assessment – superseded
NNPA-006a Habitats Regulations Assessment – Nov 2019, replaces NNPA-006 (see Inspector’s Documents above for reason).
NNPA-007 Equality Impact Assessment

NNPA-008 Publication Draft Original Representations
NNPA-009 Representations in Policy Order – Regulation 22
NNPA-010 Publication Draft Consultation Feedback Report – Regulation 22
NNPA-011 Consultation Statement – Regulation 22
NNPA-012 Duty to Cooperate – including Statements of Common Ground.

NNPA-013 Submission Letter
NNPA-014 Submission Statement
NNPA-015 Legal Compliance Checklist
NNPA-016 Soundness Compliance Checklist

NNPA-017 Local Development Scheme
NNPA-018 Update to Local Development Scheme – Sep 2019. Report sent to Full Authority to agree revised timetable for Local Plan.
NNPA-019 Statement of Community Involvement
NNPA-020 Monitoring and Implementation Framework

Technical Papers

NNPA-021 Tracked Modifications Sustainability Appraisal – May 2019
NNPA-022 Landscape Character Assessment – June 2019 Update
NNPA-023 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment – Oct 2015
NNPA-024 Infrastructure Plan – Sep 2017

NNPA-025 Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) – May 2017
NNPA-026 Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) – July 2019
NNPA-027 Viability Assessment with Appendices – May 2019
NNPA-028 Viability Addendum Report with Appendices – Aug 2019

NNPA-029 Economic Futures and Employment Demand Study – May 2018
NNPA-030 Housing Needs Survey – Sep 2016
NNPA-031 Housing Topic Paper – Aug 2019

NNPA-032 Policy Matrix – assesses whether the Local Plan policies are internally consistent.
NNPA-033 Strategic Spatial Objectives Matrix – assesses whether the Local Plan policies are consistent with the Strategic Spatial Objectives.
NNPA-034 Management Plan Conformity – assesses the level of conformity of the Local Plan with the Management Plan (see NNPA-053).
NNPA-035 Sustainable Community Strategy Conformity – assesses the Local Plan policies against the objectives of Northumberland County Council’s corporate plan.

Previous Consultations

This was the first formal consultation stage held over 8 weeks from 27th February 2017 to 28th April 2017:

NNPA-036 Issues Paper Consultation Draft
NNPA-037 Issues Paper Consultation Feedback Report

The second stage of formal consultation was held over 8 weeks from 16th October 2017 to 11th December 2017:

NNPA-038 Policy Options Paper
NNPA-039 Policy Options Consultation Feedback Report

The third stage of formal consultation was held over 8 weeks from 30th July 2018 to 24th September 2018:

NNPA-040 Preferred Options Draft Plan
NNPA-041 Preferred Options Consultation Feedback Report

Environmental Reports

NNPA-042 Issues Paper Preliminary Sustainability Statement – Spring 2017
NNPA-043 Issues Paper Habitats Regulations Assessment – Feb 2017

NNPA-044 Policy Options Interim Sustainability Statement – Oct 2017
NNPA-045 Policy Options Habitats Regulations Assessment – Sep 2017

NNPA-046 Preferred Options Interim Sustainability Appraisal – Summer 2018
NNPA-047 Preferred Options Habitat Regulations Assessment – July 2018

NNPA-048 Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report – Sep 2016
NNPA-049 Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Representations – Nov 2016

Adopted Plans

NNPA-050 Northumberland National Park Core Strategy and Development Policies – March 2009
NNPA-051 Core Strategy Map North – March 2009
NNPA-052 Core Strategy Map South – March 2009

NNPA-053 Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document – September 2011
NNPA-054 Landscape Supplementary Planning Document – September 2011

NNPA-055 Northumberland National Park Management Plan 2016-2021 – statutory document setting out the vision, policies and outcomes for the National Park whilst ensuring statutory purposes are delivered.

Relevant Neighbouring Authority Plans and Neighbourhood Plans

NNPA-056 Northumberland County Council Publication Draft Local Plan – January 2019
NNPA-057 Northumberland County Council Schedule of Proposed Minor Modifications – May 2019
NNPA-058 Wooler Neighbourhood Plan – August 2019, submitted for inspection.

National Policies, Guidance and Legislation

NNPA-059 National Planning Policy Framework – Feb 2019
NNPA-060 National Planning Policy Guidance – link only

NNPA-061 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 – link only
NNPA-062 Environment Act 1995 – link only
NNPA-063 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 – link only
NNPA-064 Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 – link only
NNPA-065 Climate Change Act 2008 – link only
NNPA-066 Localism Act 2011 – link only
NNPA-067 Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 – link only

NNPA-068 English National Parks and the Broads: UK Government Vision and Circular 2010
NNPA-069 National Parks: 8-Point Plan for England 2016-2020
NNPA-070 25 Year Environment Plan – 2018

Documents referenced in the Local Plan

NNPA-071 Biodiversity 2020 Strategy – 2011, DEFRA
NNPA-072 Borderlands Growth Deal – 2019, UK Govt.
NNPA-073 Building Regulations – link only
NNPA-074 Central Rating List 2017 – link only
NNPA-075 Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance – 2008, English Heritage
NNPA-076 EU Directive 2001/42/EC – link only
NNPA-077 European Habitats Directive – link only
NNPA-078 Forestry Standard (UK) – Forestry Commission, 2017
NNPA-079 Historic Environment in Local Plans – 2015, Historic England
NNPA-080 Joint Local Aggregates Assessment – 2018, for County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear
NNPA-081 North East Strategic Economic Plan – 2019, NELEP
NNPA-082 North of Tyne Devolution Deal – 2018, UK Govt.
NNPA-083 NNP Demographic Forecasts – 2016
NNPA-084 NNP Exterior Lighting Master Plan – 2013
NNPA-085 NNP Good Practice Guide for Outdoor Lighting – 2017
NNPA-086 NNP Natural Environment Vision – 2014
NNPA-087 NNP State of the National Park Report 2015 – 2015
NNPA-088 NNP State of the National Park Report 2018 – 2018
NNPA-089 Northumberland Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessment – 2018 Update, NCC
NNPA-090 Northumberland Historic Environment Record – link only
NNPA-091 Northumberland Parking Standards – Appendix D of NCC Publication Draft Local Plan, 2019
NNPA-092 Northumberland Waste Management Strategy – 2003, NCC
NNPA-093 ONS Census 2011 – link only
NNPA-094 Rights of Way Improvement Plan – 2016, NCC
NNPA-095 Technical Housing Standards: Nationally Described Space Standards – 2015, DCLG.
NNPA-096 Tyne Catchment Flood Management Plan – 2009, Environment Agency
NNPA-097 Valuing England’s National Parks – 2013, National Parks England
NNPA-098 Waste Arisings and Waste Management Capacity – 2012, for North East of England

NNPA-099 Monitoring Update – 2019, equivalent to Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) but covering the last four years 2015-2019