Examination

Current position on the Cheltenham Local Plan examination

Publication of the inspector’s report

The inspector’s report on the examination of the Cheltenham Plan 2011-2031 was submitted to the Council 17 March 2020, and has been published as ED043 in the examination library as follows:

ED043 Final Inspector's report on the Cheltenham Plan

The publication of the inspector’s report concludes the examination process.  Any queries regarding the Inspector’s Report or the Cheltenham Plan should be directed to the council’s planning policy team. 

20 February 2020: Comments received to the council's response to ED041 have now been sent to the Inspector for consideration and published as exam doc ED042.  NB: Only comments submitted in response to the specific matters raised in ED041 can be accepted at this stage of the examination.

27 January 2020: The council's response to the inspector's request for further information has been published as ED041. Comments to the council's response are invited from respondents who made comments on the main modifications consultation by 5pm on Friday 14 February 2020 and should be submitted directly to the programme officer, [email protected].

January 2020: The inspector is currently considering the representations received to the proposed main modifications consultation. The council's letter to the inspector regarding the consultation results together with a summary of main modifications responses has been published as ED040.

4 November 2019: The proposed main modifications consultation runs from 4 November 2019 to 16 December 2019 and key main modifications documents [ED038] have been published.

6 September 2019: Main modifications to the Cheltenham Plan will be taken to council on 14 October to seek permission to begin public consultation in November.

19 June 2019: Please note the council's update to timetable set out in ED031 (Jun-19) [ED033] has been published.

30 April 2019: The council's response to the inspector's advice note [ED031] has been received and published alongside an email from the inspector to the council [ED032].

9 April 2019: The amended inspector's post hearing advice note to council (9.4.19) [ED030] has been published and a deadline set for the Council's response of 26 April 2019.

Please be advised that this is a ‘post hearing advice note’ - the inspector is not reaching conclusions or setting out reasoning at this stage.  The inspector is not in a position to open correspondence or discussion at this stage.  The main modifications schedule has not yet been finalised and any modifications the council propose will be subject to public consultation in due course.

28 February 2019: The current hearings have now concluded and although the examination remains open, no further submissions will be accepted unless specifically requested by the Inspector.  The next steps in the examination process will be published in due course, so please check this website regularly for updates.

Donation to charity: Five pounds was raised by way of a fine for mobile phone interruption during the hearings which will be donated to Hope Support Services Ltd.

Local Plan inspector

The Cheltenham Borough Council Local Plan 2011-2031 (the 'Plan') was sent for submission to the Secretary of State for independent examination by a planning inspector on 3 October 2018. Following formal acceptance on 15 October 2018 of the submitted Plan, the Secretary of State has appointed Wendy Burden BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI to conduct the independent examination to assess the soundness of the plan. Following completion of the examination, the inspector will issue a report for the council giving recommendations for action, which may include modifications to the Plan necessary to make it sound, as requested by the council.

Local Plan programme officer

The examination process will be administered by the programme officer, Tracey Smith who is independent of the council and will work under the direction of the inspector. All communications/enquiries regarding the examination (including correspondence for the inspector) should be addressed to the programme officer using the contact details listed below.

Contact details:

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Tel: 01242 264175
  • Address for postal correspondence: Cambray Room, Cheltenham Borough Council, Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham GL50 9SA

Venue for hearing sessions

Unless otherwise stated, the hearings will be held in the Council Chamber, Cheltenham Borough Council, Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham GL50 9SA

Local Plan examination process and timetable

The hearing sessions of the examination will usually commence 10-14 weeks after an inspector has been appointed and may last up to 4-5 weeks with one or two breaks. The inspector may call a pre-hearing meeting to discuss procedureal issues or an exploratory meeting shortly after submission if they have issues requiring further investigation before proceeding with the examination.

  • Submission: 3 October 2018
  • Hearings commence: February/March 2019 - TBC
  • Inspector’s report due: TBC

After the hearings have been formally closed, the examination remains open until the inspector's final report is submitted to the council. However, no further representations or evidence will be accepted after the hearing sessions unless this has been specifically requested by the inspector.

Local Plan examination library

The examination library comprises the following sections:

  • Submission/core documents - documents prepared and/or referred to in relation to the Plan (including the council's evidence base and supporting docs) submitted by the council to the planning inspectorate for independent examination
  • Examination documents - documents and correspondence prepared and/or submitted in relation to the examination of the submitted Plan
  • Hearing sessions - hearings timetable and programme, agendas, further statements prepared by participants and associated documents

Key historic examination updates

27 February 2019: We have made the following updates to the examination library:

Examination document ED025 SoCG between Miller Homes and Gloucestershire County Council in relation to Matters 3 & 8 - Leckhampton (27.02.19)

Matter 9 Statements - M9-620 & 630 A Ross POLICY GT1 APPENDIX

26 February 2019: Updates to The Reddings Residents Association - Matter 4 statement.

M4-TRRA Supplementary Statement for discussion 26 February 2019

25 February 2019: There have been recent updates made to the examination documents and the following hearing session statements:

Matters 1, 3 and 8 - Mr Pollock email and attachments:

Matter 4 - M4-CBC Apx re Lake District & Havant local plan status

Matter 5 - Environment Agency comments:

21 February 2019:  With regard to the Addendum to the Council’s M3 written statement (agreement with Historic England), the changes to Policy HD4 were discussed at the Matter 3 hearing, but did not touch on the changes to Policy HD8.  If you would like to submit written representations to Policy HD8, please submit these electronically to the programme officer ([email protected])  by midday on 8 March 2019. 

13 Februrary 2019: The Inspector for the Cheltenham Plan Examination has brought forward the date of the Matter 8: Transport hearing session by one day, to the morning of Wed 27 Feb 2019 to commence at 10:00.

NB: Please note that item 5 of Matter 8 dealing with Policy TN1 (Honeybourne rail line) will be heard under Matter 9: Other on Thu 28 Feb – this is the same date of the original Matter 8 session.  This item will be discussed first on 28 Feb at 10:00.

13 February 2019: Comments invited on draft proposed policies agreed between CBC and Natural England 

Should you wish to comment on the above draft policies, please email me your comments by the deadline of midday on Thu 21 February 2019, which will then be passed to the Inspector for her consideration and published in the examination library. The Inspector has advised that she intends to discuss the draft policies and any comments received at Matter 7 (Natural environment) hearing session on Thu 28 February 2019 at 10:00.   Should you wish to request to participate in the Matter 7 hearing in the light of any comments you have made, please let me know by 21 February 2019.

12 February 2019: We have made the following updates:

Matter 1 - The evidence base and Vision M1-1284 Statement of Common Ground Natural England

Matter 2 – Economic development (13 Feb 2019) M2-Statement of Common Ground GFirst LEP

Matter 3 – Housing and mixed use development (14 Feb 2019) M3-CBC Addendum re agreement with Historic England

Matter 5 – Health and Environmental Quality (27 Feb 2019) Updates to Cheltenham Borough Council statements about flooding:

These documents and can also be accessed via the relevant matter or hearing session webpage, or the links provided under exam doc ED012 for each matter.

25 January 2019: Further statements (ED012) submitted by representors and the council for matters 1 to 9 in response to the inspector's 'Matters, issues and questions' (MIQs) have now all been sent to the inspector for her consideration and can be found via the relevant hearing session webpage or the following links:

Week commencing 14 January 2019: Following the deadline for requesting changes, REVISED Draft hearings programme (ED008) and REVISED Inspector's matters issues and questions (ED009) have now been circulated to participants. ED009a Addendum to MIQs (22.01.19)

20 December 2018: The Draft hearings programme (ED008), Inspector's guidance note (ED007) and Inspector's matters, issues and questions (ED009) have now all been published under the examination documents section of the examination library. Participants will shortly receive notification of the above via email and should respond to the programme officer with any requested changes by 10 January 2019 for the inspector to consider.

Week commencing 29 October 2018: The inspector's initial letter on the examination of the Cheltenham Plan is being sent to the council and all Reg. 19 respondents this week - deadline for any responses is midday on 29 November 2018.

Please refer to the letter for further details: ED002 Inspector's initial letter to the council and all Reg. 19 respondents re Cheltenham Plan (31.10.18)