Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

North East of England Regional Spatial Strategy & Association of North East Councils Update

North East of England Regional Spatial Strategy 

From July 2008, the North East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) has provided the spatial strategy for the North East region and informed both the LDF and the Local Transport Plan. It also sets out how Stockton will contribute to the regeneration of the North East, establishing the number of new houses required and the amount of employment land to be developed, along with the broad locations where these should be sited.  In July 2010, the RSS was revoked by the Government, meaning that it could no longer be used in determining planning applications. You can download the revocation of regional strategies letter from the Chief Planning Officer here.

Following the RSS revocation, the Local Authority continued to determine planning applications according to the Development Plan. However, this was limited to:

• The Core Strategy DPD and other Local Development Documents as they become adopted
• Saved policies from the Local Plan and Alteration Number 1 to the Local Plan

Then, in November 2010, the judgement in a case brought by Cala Homes in the High Court, which considered that the powers set out in section 79 [6] of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 could not be used to revoke all Regional Strategies in their entirety. The effect of this decision was to re-establish Regional Strategies as part of the Development Plan. A letter from the Chief Planner at the Department for Communities and Local Government to Chief Planning Officers dated 10 November 2010 acknowledged this, but noted that the Government still intended to abolish Regional Strategies in the Localism Bill and Local Planning Authorities should regard this as a material consideration in planning decisions.

Whilst the Government has signalled its intention that the RSS is no longer part of the Borough's Development Plan, the evidence upon which its policies were prepared may continue to be a material consideration, depending on the facts of the case. In addition, national planning policy in the form of Planning Policy Guidance and Planning Policy Statements continues to be a material consideration in determining planning applications.

The Regional Spatial Strategy can still be downloaded here. Guidance on the revocation of the regional strategy and the affect on planning applications and the local development framework of Stockton Borough Council can also be viewed here.

ANEC

The strategy integration directorate function at the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) dealt with planning, housing, transport, scrutiny and sustainable development in relation to developing a regional strategy. It was a statutory consultee for all LDF documents and major planning applications to check conformity with the RSS. This function ceased on 31 July 2010.

To obtain the work of the former strategy integration directorate and in particular information relating to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the North East, access the strategy integration website - www.strategyintegrationne.co.uk

ANEC has provided a list of FAQ's which can be viewed in the Associated Documents section at the bottom of this webpage or by clicking here. The remaining core functions of ANEC have not been affected by these changes.