Next steps for Pendle's Local Plan
Published Wednesday, 8th January 2025
Pendle’s most important planning document - The Local Plan - will hopefully be adopted later this year.
Residents, businesses and other interested parties had a final opportunity at the end of last year to have their say on the plan, with almost 140 comments being received.
Councillor Asjad Mahmood, Leader of Pendle Borough Council, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took the time to give us their views and help us prepare our Local Plan, which will guide growth and development in Pendle up to 2040.
“The majority of the responses we received from members of the public were in support of the plan we had drafted.
“The Local Plan will be used daily by planning officers to help them decide whether to approve or refuse applications for planning permission.
“The next step is for Pendle Borough Council to formally submit the Local Plan, along with supporting documents and all the feedback it has received, to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.”
Councillor Tom Whipp, the Council’s Executive Member for Planning and Regulatory Services, added: “We consider the plan we have drafted to be effective in meeting our development needs and infrastructure requirements.
“We feel it is justified when considered against the reasonable alternatives, is positively prepared and is consistent with national policy.”
These are the next stages, although all timings are provisional.
- January – The plan documents will be submitted to the Secretary of State. The Planning Inspectorate will appoint an inspector to conduct the independent examination of the Local Plan.
- February / March – The inspector will request hearing statements from Pendle Borough Council and any objectors to the Local Plan where further supporting evidence may be needed.
- April / May – Hearing sessions will be held locally for the Examination in Public, which considers any potentially contentious matter in detail.
- June / July – There will be a statutory six-week public consultation on any changes the inspector recommends to the Local Plan before it can be adopted.
- August / September – The inspector will issue their final report.
- October / November – The Council will consider the inspector’s report.
- December – Pendle Borough Council will adopt the Local Plan, if it accepts the inspector’s recommendations.