Planning services in
the National Park
Jim Redwood
Head of Planning
South Downs National Park Authority
1st April 2011
From 1st April 2011 the SDNPA is the sole planning
authority for the South Downs National Park:
-responsible for all planning decisions
-responsible for all planning policy
-responsible for LDFs, enforcement, minerals and
waste
Role of the National Park
Purposes:
• Conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and
cultural heritage of the area
• Promote opportunities for the understanding and
enjoyment of the park’s special qualities by the public
Authority Duty:
• To seek to foster the economic and social well-being of
the communities within the National Park
Statistics
• c4,000 planning applications/year – other NPAs in
range 39 (Northumberland)-1,000 (NFNP)
• 8th largest LPA in 2008/9 – cf Kirklees (3,700)
• Only 61 ‘majors’ in 2008/9
• 15 LAs/LDFs
Delegation
• The SDNPA is working in partnership with all 15 Local Planning
Authorities to provide planning services for the National Park
from 1st April 2011- ‘delegation’
• Delegation is an agency agreement under s101 of the 1972 Local
Government Act – cf Highways agency agreements – a service
provided by one LA for another
• SDNPA will pay LAs for the services they provide
Delegation
•
Agreement to agree’ – provides a legal basis for LPAs to
provide planning service for SDNPA from 1/4/11 to 31/3/12
• Bi-lateral s101agreements being negotiated with all 15
LPAs – final drafts now under discussion – may not be in
place by1/4/11
Duration and Review of S101 agreements
• Three year agreement
• Rolling 12 month notice to quit
• Review at least annually
• Performance framework
How will it work?
• All applications will be ‘processed’ through current LA
systems
-Validation
-Registration
-Consultation
• Key documents and correspondence ‘badged’ with joint
SDNPA/LPA identity
The official branding for the SDNPA documents (Lewes example)
Example 1 (Arun District Council) – no SDNPA logo, but use of SDNPA
strapline
Example 2 (Horsham District Council) – use of SDNPA logo and strapline
on existing Horsham headed paper
Who Does What : Significance
• Of the c4,000 applications/year we only expect up to 150 to be determined by
the SDNPA - most (about 98%) applications will continue to be LPA determined.
• SDNPA will determine applications of ‘significance’ to the SDNP
Major / Minor split:
Minors (less than 10 dwellings, 1000 sq m commercial floorspace or sites less
than 0.5 Ha) most likely to be delegated to the LPAs.
Majors (10 dwellings, 1000 sq m commercial floorspace or sites of 0.5 Ha or
more) likely to be for NPA determination, but:
‘Minor’ Development which might be Significant
• 3 or more dwellings on the edge of a small village or settlement
• Tourism, leisure and visitor accommodation schemes
• Individual energy schemes outside existing settlements
• Smaller scale infrastructure projects outside existing settlements
• Proposals to alter the operation of some minerals and waste facilities
• Telecommunications proposals with visual impacts on SDNP
• Proposals for lighting outside existing settlements
• Smaller scale development which may have cumulative adverse impact on
SDNP
‘Major’ Developments not likely to be Significant
• Major
Residential schemes(10 – 29 dwellings) that are proposed
within existing towns and that are considered to have less
significance for National Park purposes.
• Major commercial schemes (1,000 – 2,999 square metres floor
space) that are proposed within existing commercial centres within
towns and some smaller settlements and that are considered to have
less significance for National Park purposes.
Call-in Procedures
• Significant applications to be identified as soon as possible
– eg at pre-application stage
• Applications can be recovered at almost any stage if they
are ‘significant’ – but not just because there’s a big lobby
• Applications on committee agendas must be identified
before the meeting for call-in to apply, if officers
recommendation is overturned
Who/where do I go to?
• Your first point of contact should be with your Local
Authority as usual, unless it is clear, or has already been
agreed that the SDNPA will determine it
• The Local Authority will give initial advice on who will
determine the application – consulting the SDNPA (Link
Officer) as necessary
Who/where do I go to?
• The SDNPA/Link Officer may be involved in pre-application
discussions if appropriate
• If it is clear that the SDNPA will determine it, pre-application
discussions will be with the SDNPA direct
Enforcement Protocol
• LPA is always first port of call for all enforcement activity
• Current enforcement resources continue to apply
• No prior requirement to consult SDNPA on enforcement
matters in all urgent cases, unless costs are possible.
• SDNPA advice & influence through Link Officers
• SDNPA has limited supplementary enforcement resources
S106 Agreements / CIL
• Current LPA arrangements and policies apply
• All Section106 funding to be held by SDNPA until used to fund
the scheme it was collected for.
• S106 agreement protocol to be agreed
Specialist Services
• Current resources continue to be used – Conservation
Officers, Arboricultural Officers, Agricultural Estate
Advisers, Design Officers, Landscape Advisers,
Archaeologists, Ecologists etc.
• SDNPA has 2 Historic Buildings Officer and a National Park
Design Officer
• SDNPA has additional complementary specialist advice to
supplement/signpost local specialist advisers
Appeals
• Appeals against LPA decisions to be handled by LPA – SDNPA
will need to be consulted and possibly involved.
• Appeals against SDNPA decisions to be handled by SDNPA.
Link Officer Role
4 Link Officers:
Hampshire - Nat Belderson
Chichester – Natalie Fellows
Rest of W Sussex – Mike Bleakley
East Sussex, including Brighton and Hove – Roy Little
Link Officer Role
Interface between LA and SDNPA:
-Weekly Lists of applications
-Pre-application discussion and enquiries.
-Advice and guidance on SDNPA approach
-Call-in advice and provisions
-Enforcement liaison
-Appeal procedure liaison
-Routine point of contact on other emerging issues
Policy
• Current policies continue to apply
• Joint Core Strategy work under discussion with LPAs – need to
prepare LDS by June 2011
• Early SPD to review inherited saved local plan policies and
AONB policies
Guiding Principles
The Authority’s role should be to:
• Champion the South Downs providing strategic leadership
• Bring people together and act as a coordinator
• Influence policy making and be a source of expertise
• Deliver flagship projects, drawing down external funding
• Engage directly with communities, land managers and visitors
• Encourage volunteering to help strengthen communities
• Build partnerships to tackle the challenges facing the South Downs –
e.g. climate change, development pressures
Questions?