How the Planning System works.
Legislation since 1947 requires Councils to produce a Land Use Plan. Over the years this had had various names in this area, including the Greater Bradford Plan, the Unitary Development Plan, and the Revised Unitary Development Plan. The Land Use plan system has been modified by both Labour and Conservative Governments since. It has to conform with the National Planning Policy Framework. The current land use planning system is called the Local Development Plan.
Bradford Council employ 2 types of Planners 1. Strategic Planners, and 2. Development Control Planners. They are separate from each other. The Strategic Control Planners research population growth projections, traffic use and employment changes, e.g. what effect will the introduction of ultra high speed broadband have on travelling to work. Will more people work from home or from district-based “smart offices”, as happens in The Netherlands. The Strategic Planners need to work out how many houses are needed in future years to meet population growth, and have to suggest the allocation of land for employment use, recreation, etc.. They produce a Core Strategy which includes all proposed changes in the period. This Core Strategy has to be approved by a majority of Councillors and is then examined by an independent Planning Officer appointed from the national Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, national infrastructure planning applications, examinations of local plans and other planning-related and specialist casework in England and Wales. The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Governmentand the Welsh Government.
The second type of Planners are those who deal with Planning Applications. They have to ensure that all developments conform with the Core Strategy. They are better known as Development Control Planners.
All planning applications must conform with the Core Strategy. One of the documents which make up the Local Plan is the Land Allocations DPD (Development Plan Document). Currently this is being worked on by the Council.
How the Core Strategy affects Thornton
Policy H03 in section 5.3.65 of the Core Strategy, actual page 170, viewed at page 177/401 states that Thornton is designated a Local Growth Centre and 700 new dwellings will be built in Thornton in the period up to April 2030. So the question is Where? Note: this figure has since been revised down to 585, given new building and changes, pre-Covid, in population growth (updated 30 August 2023)
Prior to the compilation of the Core Strategic there were 3 “editions” of the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, SHLAA. The third edition showed land in Thornton, including some in the existing Green Belt, which would provide sufficient land for 1,400 houses. The Core Strategy defines the SHLAA as “The primary role of this assessment is to provide an indication of the scale, nature and distribution of potential housing land across the district. This involves identifying sites with potential for housing; assessing their capacity to accommodate houses; and determining having collected information about land ownership, development constraints and economic viability, whether and when the could be developed.”
The next stage is described on the page entitled Bradford Council’s Development Plan, (2016).
Following that plan the Strategic planners considered the comments made and brought out a new plan in 2021 for consultation called the Draft Bradford District Local Plan – Preferred Options (Regulation 18) and Call for Sites. That part of it which covers Thornton can be seen by clicking here.
The latest Plan It briefing gives an update on the progress of the Local Plan.
Updated 14 August 2023)
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