Policies Map Guidance, the clear and the not so clear - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Richard, Many thanks for these comments. I will look into your 3 'not so clear' points and see how we can clarify them. In the meantime, does anyone else have a view on Richard's questions? Answers from those of you already through an examination would be most welcome! Adam

As I see it - the policies map is exactly that - a map of current development plan policies. As such, it includes both current up to date adopted local plan policies and saved policies where these have not been superseded. The only means of changing the policies map is through the Local Plan process and any document which reviews or updates existing or saved policies must be be explicit both in what it is adding and in what it is deleting. One thing I am less clear about is whether a two tier District policies map should include minerals and waste designations. It gets even more complicated when you think about neighbourhood plans which may include a variety of locally specific designations.

Thanks Daniel, Has your local plan map (however titled) ever included minerals and waste designations? If not, why start now? Anyone else in a two-tier area have any thoughts/experience on this point? I suppose it comes down to the interpretation of the Regulation 9(1)(c) and the requirement to 'illustrate geographically the application of the policies in the adopted development plan'.

Thank you for your replies Adam and Daniel. Minerals/waste designations will be a consideration for us as we are a Unitary Authority. In terms of Neighbourhood Plans several of our parishes are preparing plans, one is aiming to adopt their plan within the next 12 months. A document containing the practical examples illustrating the application of the vague guidance contained in NPPF/Regs in relation to policies maps would be invaluable to policy teams. This could be in the form of a frequently asked questions/answers illustrated with examples from plans that have been adopted.

One of the documents we have published with our Pre Submission Draft is a Policies Map document which seeks to show only the changes to the Proposals Map for the adopted Local Plan, which was our interpretation of the requirements of the legislation - the principle being that if we were not proposing to change the existing Proposals Map then it wasn't necessary to inlcude it in the Policies Map Document.. This document will be updated for the Submission version, and only upon adoption will we publish a new Proposals Map. You can view the document at http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/images/documents/D/Derbyshire_Dales_Local_Plan_-_Pre_Submission_Draft_Policies_Map.pdf if this helps anyone - or for any feedback.. On minerals policies - never had and never will that is the responsibility of the Minerals Planning Authority

For the purposes of a new DPD, I agree that it is only necessary to indicate the proposed changes. In our land allocations DPD, we only included new designations on the plans and listed the old allocations in an appendix. However the question relates to the map itself, not proposed changes to it. We have never included minerals and waste designations in the past but these (and approved neighbourhood plans) are part of the Development Plan and, as Adam says, the map is supposed to the requirement to 'illustrate geographically the application of the policies in the adopted development plan'. A further question is whether a paper proposals map is necessary at all. If neighbourhood plans start being adopted thick and fast, these will require constant updating which at the very least will result in significant expense. There is also a risk of maps becoming so 'busy' as to be unintelligible. Reliance on GIS only (as long as all printouts were dated clearlt) would allow for the inclusion of old and new local plans, minerals and waste plans (also old and new!) and neighbourhood plans and would allow users to select the degree of clutter they wanted.