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Examination of the local plan

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Book: Examination of the local plan

The Borough Local Plan 2013 -2033: Submission version (BLPSV) was submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for independent examination on Wednesday 31 January 2018.

The Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State to examine the BLPSV is Louise Phillips MA MSc MRTPI.

Please see below the latest news on the progress of the examination since the submission of the plan:

The stage 2 hearing sessions will run for four weeks (Monday - Friday):

  • 5 October to 9 October 2020 (week 1)
  • 19 October to 23 October 2020 (week 2)
  • 9 November to 13 November 2020 (week 3) and
  • 16 November to 20 November 2020 (week 4/reserve day)

View the full examination library.

  • The Inspector released ID-15, a letter regarding 2018-Based Household Projections.
  • Update from the Inspector Friday 5 June 2020:

Having regard to Government guidance in the Written Ministerial Statement of Wednesday 13 May, the Inspector has decided to publish her Matters Issues and Questions (MIQs) for Stage 2 of the Examination.  View the MIQs and explanatory Guidance Note.  The Inspector has invited written statements in response to her MIQs by Friday 7 August 2020 and set an earlier deadline of Friday 3 July 2020 for participants to notify the Programme Officer about whether they wish to appear at hearings if they have a right to do so.  Hearing dates are yet to be set, but any necessary events are likely to commence in the autumn.  At present, face to face hearings are not possible and so, unless the guidance changes, these would take the form of virtual/digital events assisted by technology.  The situation will be monitored and further information will be provided in due course.

  • The Council published the representations the council received in response to the 2019 Proposed Changes to the BLP Submission Version Consultation.
  • The Inspector released ID-12, the Royal Borough Position Statement Tuesday 31 March 2020
  • We are currently working with the Inspector to put together a Position Statement regarding the next steps for the BLP Examination.  This Position Statement should be on the website shortly and will be kept updated as required.           
  • The additional work requested by the Inspector has now been completed and series of Proposed Changes to the BLPSV to address concerns about the soundness of the submitted Plan were approved by Full Council on 23 October 2019 for public consultation. Representations on the proposed changes and supporting documents were invited from Friday 1 November 2019 until midnight on 15 December 2019. See our Proposed Changes to the BLP Submission Version webpage for further details.
  • The Council's comprehensive response to ID10 was sent to the Inspector on 26 July 2019. See also the Inspector's response (ID/11).

  • The Council provided the Inspector with a further update at the end of May 2019. See also the Inspector's response.

  • At the beginning of May 2019 the Council provided the Inspector with an update on its progress with the workstreams it was undertaking during the Pause Period.  In reply, the Inspector indicated that she will respond once the Council's position on the nature of future consultation has been received at the end of May.

  • The Inspector issued the following update in February 2019:

"I await an update on the Council's additional work and its implications for the submitted plan and the examination.  I understand that the Council will not be in a position to undertake any necessary consultation until the end of May 2019, but look forward to receiving any further programming information".

  • The council provided a response to ID/09v2 in December 2018 updating the Inspector on work being undertaken by the Council on the main issues identified in the Regulation 20 representations (RBWM/021).  The council also indicated that it would be consulting on the outcome of this additional work after the 'all out' elections in May 2019.  The Inspector would be advised of the definitive dates for the consultation once these were known. Further legal submissions were also issued by the council. 

  • The Inspector issued a reply (ID/09v2) to RBWM/018v2 in November, indicating that the council was in effect asking for a lengthy pause to the Examination process and requesting information from the council on how it wished to proceed in light of the matters/concerns she raised. 

  • The council provided an interim response to the advice note in September 2018 with the full response (RBWM/018v2) sent to the Inspector on Friday 26 October 2018.

  • Following these hearings the Inspector issued a further advice note (ID/07) to the council in July 2018. The Inspector also invited further legal submissions from the Council and several other parties.

  • Stage 1 hearings took place from Tuesday 26 - Thursday 28 June 2018.

  • The relevant parties, including the council submitted their responses to the MIQ's in early June.

  • The Inspector decided to hold hearings to assist her with the examination of the plan.  She determined to hold the hearings in stages and issued  her Matters, Issues and Questions (MIQ's) for the Stage 1 hearings in May 2018.

  • The Inspector issued a further set of questions to the council in early May 2018 (ID/02).  The council responded in mid May 2018 (RBWM/002).

  • The Inspector issued a set of initial questions (ID/01) in March 2018 for the council to answer. The council responded in April 2018 (RBWM/001).

On-going correspondence between the Inspector and the council can be seen on the Inspector's documents  and Council's documents pages.  Submissions from representors can be viewed on the representor's documents pages - Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Examination Library

A complete list of the documents relevant to the examination is available in the Examination Library Index. The documents in the library will help support the examination through-out its duration. 

More information can be found on the Examination library page.

Programme Officer

The Programme Officer (PO) manages the administrative and procedural matters of the examination process and acts as a liaison between the council, the Inspector and participants in the examination.  The PO has no involvement with the preparation of the BLPSV and reports directly to the Inspector.  

The council has appointed Charlotte Glancy, of Banks Solutions to act as the PO for the BLPSV examination. 

More information can be found on the Programme officer page.

Planning policy : Contact details

For further information, please contact us by:

Planning Policy - Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Town Hall, St Ives Road
Maidenhead SL6 1RF
Telephone: 01628 683810