Cabinet to consider update to the Local Plan timetable

The Thanet Local Plan, adopted in July 2020, covers the period to 2031 and the Government has directed the council to complete a review, which covers the period up to 2040

On Thursday 16 June, Thanet District Council’s Cabinet will discuss a report recommending that the timetable for updating its Local Plan is revised until several outstanding issues are resolved. 

The report going to Cabinet states that “taking the Local Plan update forward at the moment, in the face of so many uncertainties affecting strategic decisions, is not a credible option.”

Cabinet members will therefore vote to either continue with the work programme set out in the Local Development Scheme (LDS), agreed in December 2021, or amend the LDS until the following uncertainties are resolved:

• A final decision on the Development Consent Order for Manston Airport
• Government’s revisions to its ‘standard method’ of reviewing local housing need
• Updated guidance and regulations on climate change and biodiversity 
• Next steps re the Planning White Paper
• Identifying sites for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation as none were proposed in recent call out to landowners. 

If Cabinet agrees to amending the LDS work programme, this does not mean that work on the Local Plan Update will cease in the meantime. 

The Cabinet meeting will be livestreamed and communications will be issued following the decision.

You can read the Cabinet report here