Decision details

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Executive Member (Economic Development and Public Service Reform), presented the confidential report of the Director of Planning and Development which seeks authorisation to undertake a procurement process to commission consultants on behalf of the three Central Lancashire Councils to deliver a two-part study on a) Viability of the new Central Lancashire Local Plan and b) A Review of the Central Lancashire Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

Decision:

1.    Approval to allocate £90,000 of the shared Central Lancashire Local Plan Budget allocated to this piece of work, essentially meaning a cost of £30,000 to each Council.

2.    That Chorley Council procures this work on behalf of the three Councils of Chorley, Preston and South Ribble and recoups the contributions of Preston and South Ribble Council following the receipt of final invoice from the contractor.

3.    To approve the proposed evaluation criteria as set out in the tender document (see Appendix one, section 17).

4.    Approval be given to commence the tender exercise with the decision to award the contract delegated to the Executive Member for Economic Development and Public Sector Reform.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

1.    The viability assessment of a proposed Local plan is a requirement as set out in NPPF paragraph 34.

2.    It is best practice to review the CIL as part of a new local plan preparation as they are inextricably linked. The CIL was implemented in 2013 and therefore needs to be reviewed and updated.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

To not commission this study would mean the preparation of the new Local Plan is

incomplete and would never meet the requirements of the tests of soundness as applied by the Planning Inspectorate. To have no new Local Plan would place the three councils at risk of speculative development.