26 January 2018

Lightwood challenge legal compliance of Local Plan at Examination

Lightwood, represented by Christopher Boyle QC, attended the Examination of the Braintree, Colchester and Tendring Local Plans to challenge the soundness of the proposed shared spatial strategy for North Essex and its evidence base.

Whilst already subject to a number of soundness and legal compliance issues, the local authorities failed in their duty to submit the representations made by Lightwood to the Regulation 19 Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate. As a result Lightwood was not invited to the Examination and was only able to attend the second week.

Consequently there will be a re-running of the Matter 1 hearing session to enable the Inspector to hear Lightwood’s evidence. However the question as to whether this ‘cures’ the failings of Braintree District Council to comply with the Duty to Co-operate, the requirements of the Sustainability Appraisal and the legislative requirements in the preparation and submission of the Section 1 Plan remains.