Local Development Plan and Heritage
Any application for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the 'development plan' unless material considerations indicate otherwise (ref. 1).
The development plan comprises the local development plan adopted by the local planning authority and any neighbourhood development plan adopted for that area, and if one exists, a regional development plan.
National policies with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a material consideration that might mean a decision should be made contrary to the development plan.
This legal requirement to make decisions in accordance with the development plan does not apply to the consideration of listed building consent applications. However, the planning objectives for an area may well be material to the consideration in such consents.
Local development plans should be consistent with the NPPF (ref. 2). If a local development plan which is consistent with the NPPF has not yet been adopted, 'due weight' should be given to relevant policies in existing local plans according to their degree of consistency with the NPPF (ref. 3).
Weight may also be given to emerging plans according to their stage of preparation; the degree of unresolved objections; and the degree of consistency with the NPPF (ref. 4).
If to any extent a policy contained in a development plan conflicts with another in the plan, the conflict must be resolved in favour of the policy which is contained in the last document to become part of the development plan (ref. 5), unless material considerations indicate otherwise. It has also been well established in case law that, where policies pull in different directions the decision maker should consider the policies in the development as a whole when determining an application for planning permission.
Where there is conflict between the application of the policies in the neighbourhood plan and those in the local plan, then those in the neighbourhood plan take precedence unless the local plan policy is 'strategic'. If the local development plan was adopted after the adoption of the neighbourhood plan, however, strategic and non-strategic policies in the local development plan will take precedence over the policies in the neighbourhood plan (ref. 6).
For guidance on the formation and content of local development plans and neighbourhood plans see the Planning for the Historic Environment section.
References
(1) s38(6) Planning Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
(2) Paragraph 35, National Planning Policy Framework, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, June 2021
(3) Paragraph 219, National Planning Policy Framework, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, July 2021
(4) Paragraph 48, National Planning Policy Framework, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, June 2021
(5) s38(5) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2005
(6) Paragraph 30, National Planning Policy Framework, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, June 2021
