Adopted Local Plan for Swale

Submission and examination in public

You will find a comprehensive set of documents on our library page relating to the Local Plan (from Submission Stage April 2015), including all supporting evidence and information, together with notes from the Inspector leading the EIP.

A summary of events in the process to date follows (with most recent first), with links to key documents.

Resumed Examination in Public (January / February 2017)

The initial part of the Examination in Public concluded on the 16 December 2015. The EIP resumed on the 31 January 2017 to debate representations on the Main Modifications to the Local Plan. The Inspector's Matters, Issues and Questions (PDF 63kb) is available (ID/11).

Lynette Duncan  was the Programme Officer, who  was managing the administration of the examination on behalf of the Inspector.

Programme officer documents

Note from the Programme Officer (PDF 60kb) (14 December 2016)
Resumed Hearings programme v6 (PDF 30kb) (6 February 2017)
Resumed Hearings Letter (PDF 46kb) (4 November 2016)
Hearings programme (PDF 46kb)  (16 November 2015)
Letter of introduction (PDF 46kb)

Bearing Fruits Main Modifications Consultation 2016: Update 28 November 2016

Here is a summary of Key Issues (PDF 4.45MB) (SBC/PS/115).

Bearing Fruits 2031: The Swale Borough Local Plan Proposed Main Modifications (June 2016)

The main modifications to the Plan were made in response to the Inspector's Interim Findings.

The consultation ran from 24 June -8 August 2016

The documents for consultation included:

• Bearing Fruits 2031: The Swale Borough Local Plan, Proposed Main Modifications, June 2016 archived document available upon request by emailing localplans@swale.gov.uk
• Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of Bearing Fruits 2031: The Swale Borough Local Plan, Proposed Main Modifications, June 2016 (AECOM)
  • Non-Technical Summary (PDF 1.19MB),
  • Addendum (PDF 2.5MB)
  • Erratum (PDF 1.49MB)
• Habitats Regulation Assessment: Bearing Fruits 2031: The Swale Borough Local Plan, Proposed Main Modifications, June 2016 (PDF 275kb) (AECOM)
• Bearing Fruits 2031: Draft Implementation and Delivery Schedule 2016-17, June 2016 (PDF 1.19MB)

The Local Plan consultation document is available on a chapter by chapter basis, for ease of downloading:

The purpose of this consultation and Chapter 1 (PDF 649kb) - Setting the scene: the context for planning in Swale
Chapter 2 (PDF 1.19MB) - Taking a journey through Swale
Chapter 3 (PDF 414kb) - Our vision, objectives and key diagram
Chapter 4 (PDF 1.63MB) - Setting out our local plan strategy
Chapter 5 (PDF 3.13MB) - Core planning policies
Chapter 6 (PDF 4.26MB) - Land allocations for new development
Chapter 7 (PDF 2.1MB) - Development management policies
Chapter 8 (PDF 480kb) - Implementation and delivery plan and monitoring arrangements
Chapter 9 - Proposed modifications to the Proposal's Map: pages 366-387 (PDF 4.66MB), pages 388-412 (PDF 3.49MB), pages 413-437 (PDF 3.05MB), pages 438-462 (PDF 3.23MB), pages 463-479 (PDF 2.46MB)
Appendices (PDF 626kb)

Inspector's Interim Findings (February 2016)

The Inspector published her Interim Findings (ID/9a-ID9d, below) in early 2016, with an indication of Main Modifications required to make the Plan sound.

ID/9a Introduction to the Inspector's Interim Findings (PDF 19kb) (4 February 2016)
ID/9b Inspector's Interim Findings - Part 1 (PDF 19kb) (4 February 2016)
ID/9c Inspector's Interim Findings - Part 2 (PDF 51kb)(4 February 2016)
ID/9d Inspector's Interim Findings - Part 3 (PDF 51kb) (4 March 2016)

Examination of the Local Plan - first phase (December 2015)

As part of the EIP, the first tranche of hearing sessions were heard on:

• Tuesday 17 November - Thursday 19 November 2015 (inclusive)
• Tuesday 24 November to Thursday 26 November 2015 (inclusive)
• Tuesday 15 December to Wednesday 16 December 2015 (inclusive)

A hearings programme (PDF 20kb) (14 December 2015) for these sessions was produced.

The venue for the Hearing was Swale Borough Council, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 3HT.

Pre-Hearing meeting

A Pre-Hearing meeting was held on Monday 22 June 2015 to discuss the management of the hearing sessions.

The Council's draft Proposed Modifications tabled at Examination (December 2015)

Since the submission of the Swale Borough Local Plan Part 1, and up to January 2016, the Council continued to consider whether further changes to the plan were required in response to representations received and the discussions held during the Examination hearings. As a result, a number of additional changes to the plan were placed before the Examination.  These fell under two broad headings as follows

1. Schedule A: Main modifications - These are modifications intended to secure the overall soundness of the Local Plan. The Council has taken a cautious approach to determine whether a modification represents a main modification. Generally, where there is doubt as to the classification of a modification, the Council has included it within Schedule A; and
2. Schedule B: Additional modifications - These are more minor in nature and are intended to address such matters as changes to improve the understanding of text and policies, factual corrections, omissions and updating. Grammatical and typographical changes are not normally covered as they will be the subject of on-going and final editing.

Both Schedule A (Main Modifications (PDF 1.19MB)) and Schedule B (Additional Modifications (PDF 2.75MB)) are available (18 January 2016, SBC/PS/036A and B).

Since receiving the Inspector's Interim Findings (ID/9a-ID/9d), the Council has continued to work on modifications to the draft Local Plan, in particular, in response to the issues raised by the Inspector.

The Council's draft Proposed Responses to Representations on the Submission Plan (2015)

In addition to those statements prepared for discussion at the Examination, the Council prepared a statement of its responses to all the representations received to the Submission version of the Local Plan.

SBC/PS/018a Responses to Representations Chapters 1- 3 (PDF 1.28MB) (6 August 2015)
SBC/PS/018b Responses to Representations Chapter 4 (PDF 1.12MB)  (29 September 2015)
SBC/PS/018c Responses to Representations Chapter 5 (PDF 465kb) (15 September 2015)
SBC/PS/018d Responses to Representations on Chapter 6 (PDF 2.15MB) (9 November 2015)
SBC/PS/018e Responses to Representations Chapter 7 (PDF 1.34MB) (16 October 2015)
SBC/PS/018f Responses to Representations Chapter 8 (PDF 319kb) (17 September 2015)

SBC/PS/018h Responses to Representations on Local Plan Supporting Documents (PDF 1.36MB) (11 August 2015)

Submission of the draft Local Plan (2015)

Our draft Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on the 20 April 2015.

The Secretary of State appointed Sue Turner RIBA MRTPI IHBC BARCH MSC to conduct the examination.

The Submission Letter (PDF 88kb) to the Planning Inspectorate and our Submission Statement (PDF 21kb) are available to view.

A comprehensive list of documents, including copies of evidence base documents and reports, together with the representations received have also been submitted to the Inspectorate and can be viewed on our Examination document library page.