Connecting Herne Bay

Herne Bay Area Action Plan

...has been found sound by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Secretary of State appointed a planning inspector Mr David Hogger BA MSc MRTPI MIHT to conduct the examination in public into the soundness of the Area Action Plan. His report has now been received and he has found the plan sound. A copy of his report is now available to view and consists of

the main report
Annex 1 Schedule of recommended changes and
Annex 2 Schedule of Minor Changes.

The Inspector assessed the document against the three test of soundness (justified, effective and consistent with national policy) and that it is legally compliant. The Planning Inspectorate has produced a examining development plan documents brief guide

The Inspector's report will now be taken to the meeting of the Executive on 15 April and Full Council on 22 April, for approval to adopt the Area Action Plan in line with the Inspector's recommendations. This also includes adopting the Development Principles for the Central Development Area, Beach Street and the Bus Depot as Supplementary Planning Documents. The report wil also be taken to the Herne Bay Area Member Panel on 9 March and Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17 march 2010.

The Inspector's report can also be viewed at the formal deposit points from Monday 8 February 2010 which are

the council offices at:

Canterbury Main Office, Military Road, Canterbury CT1 1YW, Open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm

Herne Bay Office, William Street, Herne Bay CT6 5NX, Open Monday to Friday 8.45am to 4.45pm

Whitstable Office, 57 Harbour Street, Whitstable CT5 1AQ, Open Monday to Friday 8.45am to 4.45pm

Kent County Council Office, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ, Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

and libraries in Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Swalecliffe, Sturry and the mobile library during normal opening hours.

The Herne Bay Area Action Plan is part of the Canterbury Local Development Framework LDF) which sets out the planning strategy for the town centre and identifies a number of development sites.The regeneration of Herne Bay is identified as a high priority in the City Council's Adopted Corporate Plan.

The City Council has been working on producing an Area Action Plan for Herne Bay for the last two years under the Local Development Framework (LDF) process and has previously consulted on the Issues and Opportunities (January 2006), Issues and Options (November 2006) and the Preferred Option (January 2008). The comments received to date have been positive for the regeneration of Herne Bay Town Centre.

Formal Submission of the Area Action Plan (Regulation 30)

Following consultation on the Proposed Submission Area Action Plan (March 2009), the City Council formally submitted the Area Action Plan and supporting documentation to Government and the Planning Inspectorate on 13th August 2009. In light of some of the comments received at Proposed Submission stage, the City Council produced some Proposed Amendments to the document which were also submitted.

Copies of the original representations have been forward to the Inspector and can be viewed at http://canterbury-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal. The representations can also be viewed in tabular form .

Evidence Base

The Herne Bay Area Action Plan is supported by a substantial evidence base which can be viewed on the link below:

Paper copies of these documents can be viewed at the deposit points detailed above.

A list of all the documents can also be downloaded

Evidence base documents pdf

The City Council has responded to the Inspector's initial assessment of the Area Action Plan. Following this response the City Council has now produced Further Proposed Minor Changes to text (HBSD52)

Pre-Hearing Meeting

A Pre-Hearing Meeting took place on Thursday 8th October 2009, at Christ Church, William Street Herne Bay.

A copy of the agenda can be viewed below along with the minutes of the Pre-Hearing Meeting:

Following the pre-hearing meeting the Inspector has asked Kent County Council (KCC), the Environment Agency (EA) and the City Council to respond to a number of issues or questions he raised at the meeting. The responses received so far are set out below. Once these submissions have been received the City Council will have a further 2 weeks to produce a response and this is likely to be available after 5th November 2009.

FSD1 Final Submission Document (pdf)
FSD2 The Environment Agency’s response to the Inspector’s Questions relating to the Herne Bay Area Action Plan (pdf)

The City Council has now produced further submissions in response to the Environment Agency, Kent County Council and matters raised by the Inspector at the pre-Hearing meeting.

HBSD57 Response by Canterbury City Council to final submission by Environment Agency (November 2009)
HBSD58 Response by Canterbury City Council to final submission by Kent County Council (November 2009)
HBSD59 Final Statements i to iv by Canterbury City Council (November 2009)
HBSD60 Final Proposed Minor Changes to the Herne Bay Area Action Plan (November 2009)

Further information

Other useful sources of information are:

Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004 as amended 2008. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20081371_en.pdf
The tests of soundness are set out in Planning Policy Statement 12 available from the Communities and Local Government website http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planning/regionallocal/localdevelopmentframeworks/pps12/
The Planning Inspectorate has also produced guidance on the issue of soundness of Development Plan Documents (DPDs). http://www.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/pins/appeals/local_dev/ldf_testing_soundnessaug09.pdf
Details on the Examination process for Development Plan documents (DPD) is set out in the Planning Inspectorate's publication Examining Development Plan Documents

Previous Consultations

The City Council has carried out a number of public consultations at various stages ranging from Issues and Opportunities (January 2006), Options (November 2006), Preferred Options (January 2008) to Proposed Submission (March 2009).