West Berkshire Local Plan Review Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) Consultation

West Berkshire District Council is preparing new planning policies to plan for development across the District up to 2039 in its Local Plan Review (LPR).

The LPR sets out the Council's vision, objectives and spatial planning strategy for West Berkshire up to 2039. Within this context the:

• development strategy sets out the overall approach for managing growth and change
• strategic policies set out the overarching principles for development focusing on: a place-based approach; the environment and surroundings; delivering housing; and fostering economic growth and supporting local communities
• non-strategic site allocation policies allocate large, medium and small residential and mixed-use sites and also employment sites for development
• development management policies provide more detail on specific issues

On 1 December 2022 the Council approved the version of the LPR which it proposes to submit to the Secretary of State for public examination. This was published for a statutory six week period of public consultation between 4pm on Friday 20 January 2023 and 4.30pm on Friday 3 March 2023. This was known formally as the Regulation 19 stage. It allowed local communities, businesses and other interested stakeholders to make final comments in advance of its submission to the Secretary of State. We would like to thank everyone who particpated in the consultation. 

The responses that we received to the consultation were published on our consultation portal on 23 March 2023 and can be viewed here.

The comments that we received were submitted to the Secretary of State on 31 March 2023, together with the submission LPR, supporting documentation and a summary of the main issues raised in the representations. A Planning Inspector has been appointed to carry out an independent examination of the LPR. The Inspector will use the National Planning Policy Framework and comments submitted during the Regulation 19 consultation to determine whether the LPR is sound and legally compliant. Details of the examination can be found here.

Consultation documents

• West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039 Proposed Submission  [5MB]  
• West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039 Proposed Submission (Tracked Changes Version) [8MB]  

The Proposed Submission LPR is accompanied by a number of documents and you can read and download these documents below. 

Consultation Statement:

Sets out the consultation on the LPR to date.

• Consultation Statement for the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2022-2039 [23MB]

Duty to Cooperate Statement: 

A requirement of the Localism Act 2011. Its aim is  to ensure that local planning authorities engage construtively, actively, and on an on-going basis so that strategic, cross-boundary matters are dealt with effectively in individual Local Plans. 

A Duty to Cooperate Statement has been prepared to support the proposed submission (Regulation 19) version of the LPR.

• Duty to Cooperate Statement for the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) Local Plan Review (January 2023) [2MB]

Equalities Impact Assessment

Assessment of the potential impact of the Local Plan Review policies on different groups in West Berkshire. 

• Equalities Assessment for the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) Local Plan Review (January 2023) [1017KB]

Habitat Regulations Assessment

An assessment of the possible effects of the LPR on internationally important nature conservation sites.

• Habitat Regulations Assessment for the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) Local Plan Review (November 2022) [1MB]

Policies Map

Map which displays the spatial policies contained within the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) LPR. Please use the plus (+) icon to increase the size of the map.

• Policies Map [14MB]

You can view an interactive version of the map here.

Statement of the Representations Procedure

Sets out the procedure for making representations on the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) LPR.

• Statement of the Representations Procedure [340KB]

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) / Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

Appraisal of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of the Local Plan Review from the outset of its preparation.

The SA/SEA was first published to support the consultation on the emerging draft (Regulation 18) Local Plan Review in December 2020:

• Interim Sustainability Appraisal / Strategic Environmental Assessment (December 2020) [686KB]
• Appendix 1 Consultation Comments on SA Scoping Report 2018 [688KB]  
• Appendix 2 Baseline Information [4MB]
• Appendix 3 Relevant Plans and Programmes [575KB]
• Appendix 4 Sustainability Appraisal of Draft Policies [4MB]
• Appendix 5 Sustainability Appraisal of Site Options [5MB]  

The SA/SEA has been updated for the proposed submission (Regulation 19) version of the Local Plan Review:

• SA/SEA Environmental Report (November 2022) [1MB]  (please note that section 6 of this document includes the incorrect dates for the Regulation 19 consultation. The correct dates of the consultation are 4pm on Friday 20 January 2023 until 4.30pm on Friday 3 March 2023 and these are also set out above).
• Appendix 1: SA/SEA Scoping Report Consultation Responses [243KB]
• Appendix 2: Summary of Baseline Information [116KB]
• Appendix 3: Summary of relevant plans and policies [125KB]
• Appendix 4: SA/SEA of policy options considered [307KB]
• Appendix 5: SA/SEA of strategic policies [742KB]
• Appendix 6: SA/SEA of the development management policies [1MB]
• Appendix 7: SA/SEA of site policies [897KB]
• Appendix 8a: SA/SEA of retained Local Plan residential allocations [642KB]
• Appendix 8b: SA/SEA of new residential site allocation options [2MB]
• Appendix 8c: SA/SEA of employment site allocation options [548KB]
   

Further information

The Proposed Submission LPR has also been informed by a range of evidence-base documents which can be viewed here.

The programme and timescales for preparing the LPR are set out in the Local Development Scheme (LDS). The latest version of the LDS was published in January 2023 and can be viewed here. 

Details of the previous stages in the preparation of the LPR can be found here.