A new planning system came into force in September 2004 which replaces existing development plans with Local Development Frameworks.
In Stockport the LDF will replace the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) Review (adopted 31st May 2006). From 1st April 2011, following adoption of the Stockport LDF Core Strategy DPD, the policies which are used to manage development in Stockport are those set out in the Core Strategy along with those policies of the Stockport Unitary Development Plan (UDP) Review (May 2006) which are not superseded by the Core Strategy.
The underlying principles behind the new planning system are:
- To produce a system that allows plans and policy to be more responsive to change and capable of being updated in shorter timeframes;
- To facilitate continuous stakeholder and community involvement to build consensus in plan making;
- To have a clear approach to community involvement;
- To have a requirement for a comprehensive evidence base;
- To have a requirement for Sustainability Appraisal, including Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), for all plans;
- To have a wider spatial approach to planning to make the LDF the spatial expression of the Community Strategy and other local partnership strategies; and
- A programme managed approach to plan making that adds greater certainty to plan production timescales that can be measured.
LDFs consist of three different types of Local Development Document (LDD) as follows:
- Statement of Community Involvement (SCI): this sets out how the stakeholders and the community will be able to be involved in the preparation of DPDs. It is subject to independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate.
- Development Plan Documents (DPDs): these, along with the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), will make up the statutory Development Plan. DPDs must be in conformity with the RSS and government policy. Each DPD will be subject to an independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate who's recommendations will be binding on the Council. The adopted Proposals Map is also a Development Plan Document that must be included within the LDF. It has to be revised each time a new DPD is adopted. Up-to-date plans/polices under the old planning system can be brought forward and "saved" in parallel to the LDF. Stockport's UDP and First Review UDP will be saved. Proposals/policies for specific action areas in the form of Action Area Plans (AAPs) will also be DPDs.
- Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD): these will provide detailed guidance on specific sites and topic areas to supplement DPDs, but will not form part of the statutory Development Plan. They will, however, carry more weight in determining planning applications than old style Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) because they will be produced in line with new statutory regulations
In addition, the Council is required to publish a Local Development Scheme (LDS) (which sets out a three year rolling programme for the development of the different LDF documents), an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) (which monitors planning policies and determines whether they are being effectively implemented) and a document setting out the Borough's 5 year available housing land supply (available to the right of this page under 'Related Documents').
Monitoring undertaken through the AMR allows the Council to identify where changes to the LDF are required and, subsequently, to revise the programme in the LDS to set out how the necessary changes are going to be made.
Previous AMRs are available on request from the Planning Policy Team.
For more details of the Local Development Scheme, the Statement of Community Involvement, Development Plan Documents, Supplementary Planning Documents (and retained SPGs) and Saved Policies please use the links below.