Challenging inspector’s decision on Wealden local plan ‘unlikely to succeed’

At a cabinet meeting last Wednesday (February 12), council leaders backed proposals to withdraw the Wealden Local Plan in light of a planning inspector finding the authority had failed its legal duty to cooperate with other bodies.

Speaking at the meeting, the council’s lead member for planning Ann Newton said the council had ‘limited grounds to appeal’ this decision and would be ‘unlikely to succeed’ if it did. 

As a result, Cllr Newton said, the council should agree to withdraw the plan and immediately begin work on a replacement. 

Cllr Newton said: “The inspector’s letter sets out very clearly her reasons why the plan could not proceed and council therefore needs to make a decision on what action to take to resolve the situation.

“Counsel’s opinion was sought on the outcome of the [examination in public] and they confirmed that the council has very limited grounds to challenge the inspector’s decision and that any challenge is unlikely to succeed.

“This option to withdraw the plan and make a new one has the advantage of allowing the council to move on rapidly, especially if we adopt emissions model B and Natural England’s advice. 

“This will also make it easier to work with our neighbouring authorities and ensure we meet the duty to cooperate in the future.”

Cllr Newton went on to say this process is likely to take ‘roughly two to two-and-a-half years’ to get a local plan back to the EIP stage. 

This new local plan would then be ‘in the lap of the gods’, Cllr Newton said.

In a decision published in December, the inspector concluded that the local plan would not be able to proceed any further towards adoption as a live planning document.

The inspector’s finding hinged on the council’s model on environmental emissions, which it had adopted despite advice from Natural England. 

Under this emissions model, Wealden District Council concluded it was unable to meet any of the unmet housing needs within its Housing Market Area, specifically those of Eastbourne Borough Council.

However, the inspector said Wealden’s preferred model was “unreasonable and lacking in scientific credibility” and by maintaining following it (against Natural England’s advice) the council had failed to engage “in a constructive discussion with neighbouring authorities”.

As a result, the plan failed its duty to cooperate and could not proceed. 

Cllr Roy Galley, cabinet member for economic development and waste management, said:  “I think it is regrettable because the plan has been found unsound, but you need to choose the battles you are going to win and if you are in a losing battle then there is no point. 

“I think we are going to have to accept the reality of the situation, withdraw the plan and get on as quickly as we can with the new one.”

Council leader Bob Standley also spoke of his regret, but warned against ‘conflating’ the duty to cooperate with policies intended to protect the Ashdown Forest.

He said : “No council has challenged the duty to cooperate successfully. I think that is quite important.

“We have all had emails and I understand the passion about planning, but they are conflating the two issues – the duty to cooperate and the Ashdown Forest. They are completely separate things.

“We just need to get that message out there. That is the situation and we need to move on.” 

Following a short discussion, cabinet members agreed to recommend proposals to withdraw the plan to full council.

The final decision is set to be taken as part of a full council vote on Wednesday, February 19.