Object
Draft Local Plan
Representation ID: 13489
Received: 21/03/2016
Respondent: Dr Philip Gibbs
Failure of Duty to Cooperate over Dunton Garden Suburb. Please read the full comment as the details are important and no longer than necessary.
[Brentwood has chosen to continue with its half of development in what it now calls Dunton Hills Garden Village. This is planned to go ahead without the cooperation of Basildon Council and without providing the further evidence they requested. In these circumstances it is impossible for Basildon to take into account the impact of this development adjacent to its border. This is a significant failure on the part of Brentwood on the Principles of Duty to Cooperate as laid out in the Localism Act. To avoid this Brentwood should either provide the necessary evidence and individual responses to consultation comments to allow the joint proposal to continue, or withdraw its plans to allow housing development on Dunton Hills.]
In 2014 Brentwood asked Basildon through Duty to Cooperate to participate in a consultation on a joint development names Dunton Garden Suburb. The memorandum of understanding stated that the Local Plans of Brentwood and Basildon had a dependency on the Dunton Garden Suburb consultation. It therefore cannot be considered in isolation of the local plan preparations.
The result of the Dunton Garden Suburb consultation was overwhealming opposition to the proposal. This was not only in terms of the number of people who objected but more importantly it was demonstrated by the validity, reason and quality of the many diverse objections raised. It was Brentwood Council's responsibility under the Memorandum of Understanding to provide responses to the representations in the consultations, but they only provided brief and inadequate responses to a selection of points raised. These were provided in the Statement of Consultation. Most of the valid objections made were left unanswered when the Memorandum of Understanding expired.
Basildon council stated that the joint proposal could not go further unless Brentwood provided more evidence. Apart from the many objections raised it can be noted in particular that no green belt review has been carried out in Brentwood to justify releasing the large area of green belt at Dunton Hills.
Despite these failings, Brentwood has chosen to continue with its half of development in what it now calls Dunton Hills Garden Village. This is planned to go ahead without the cooperation of Basildon Council and without providing the further evidence they requested. In these circumstances it is impossible for Basildon to take into account the impact of this development adjacent to its border.
This is a significant failure on the part of Brentwood on the Principles of Duty to Cooperate as laid out in the Localism Act. Proper adherence to this principle is an important part of preparing a sound local plan and its failure must be seen by the planning inspectorate as totally unacceptable. To avoid this Brentwood should either provide the necessary evidence and individual responses to consultation comments to allow the joint proposal to continue, or withdraw its plans to allow housing development on Dunton Hills.