ADC responds to plan concerns

The exploratory meeting was held on Tuesday by inspector Jeremy Youle and was attended by council officers, councillors, members of the public and other interested parties.

It gave the council’s planning department a chance to respond to the ‘significant concerns regarding the soundness of the Plan and its compliance with legal requirements’ that had been previously raised by the inspector.

Christine Sarris, planning and building control corporate manager, answered Mr Youle’s questions and he will make a decision at a later date on how the examination of the Local Plan will proceed.

She described the plan as the product of ‘many years of hard work’ and one that provides certainty, is deliverable and is flexible enough.

The inspector asked the authority to explain the rationale for having a 10-year plan when national policy recommends a 15-year long document.

Ms Sarris replied that they want to allow more flexibility for neighbourhood plans in Selston and Teversal to suggest their own sites for development after this time.

The inspector asked for clarification over a number of other issues, including the figures the council used to predict the number of dwellings that need to be built each year.

He also queried how assessments had been carried out on whether land met greenbelt standards or not.

Ms Sarris said that some greenbelt sites had been allocated for housing due to their relationship to town centres.