RESIDENTS and businesses are being asked to make final representations on Solihull’s Draft Submission Plan during its formal six-week consultation period which begins tomorrow, Friday, October 30.
Once the consultation is over the plan will be submitted for independent examination by a government inspector.
The grounds for making a representation relate to the soundness and legal compliance of the Solihull’s Local Plan – Draft Submission Plan.
The Plan is of major importance as it will be the planning blueprint to guide the development of the borough for the next 16 years.
Interested parties should make their representations via the Local Plan Review page on the Council website.
For this stage there is a formal way of sending in a representation, which is explained in a short video available on the same page, alongside guidance notes.
The representations will be included in the final Plan submitted for the ‘Examination in Public’ (EiP), which is the final scrutiny before a plan can be adopted.
People will be able to discuss the plan with council officers at a number of virtual sessions which will take place in the coming weeks. More information on this will be provided in due course by the council.
The EiP will be overseen by a nominated Inspector appointed on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Once the examination concludes, the Inspector will issue a report which will summarise their findings.
If the Plan is found to be sound and legally compliant, the Council will then be allowed to adopt the Plan, or the Inspector may suggest that the Plan is modified.
The representation period will close on Monday, December 14.
Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning & Housing, said: “We have now reached the stage where we must test whether people think our Draft Submission Plan is sound and legally compliant.
“From the beginning we’ve put people and environment at the centre of the Plan.
“The Plan has been five years in the making. We have had three consultations, listened to people, engaged with local communities and businesses and received over 3,000 representations, and because of that we have amended it.
“It is now vital that as a Council we now move forward to get a Plan in place that will allow us to have control of deciding how development takes place in the future.
“If we don’t, we leave ourselves at risk of planning by appeal, where developers go over our heads to government or planning inspectors. We need to control our destiny.
“We have strived to develop a Plan that will make Solihull a place that people will feel proud to live in, work in and invest in; which also addresses our climate change challenge.”
The Solihull Local Plan – Draft Submission Plan and relevant guidance can be viewed at www.solihull.gov.uk/lpr from Friday, October 30.
