BOROUGH PLAN HIT BY ANOTHER DELAY

GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR PUTS BACK HEARINGS

> CLAIRE HARRISON REPORTS:

YET another delay has hit the blueprint for future development across Nuneaton and Bedworth – this time at the hands of a government inspector.

It was hoped that the second round of hearings into Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council’s Borough Plan would start in mid-January next year.

But the independent government inspector, David Spencer, has reviewed the timetable and said that the Stage 2 hearings will now take place a month later, in February.

After setting and resetting timetables, council officers had hoped that, if all went to plan, the Borough Plan would be formally adopted in the spring.

But this now looks unlikely, adding yet another delay to the almost decade-in-themaking plan. It is understood that the decision has been taken to avoid the need for statements to be prepared over the Christmas and New Year period.

This means yet another delay to the plan, which not only allocates land for housing across the two towns but also employment and leisure sites. It has been stressed that the Stage 2 hearings will involve a focused reconsideration of housing need/requirement and a wider discussion of land supply matters further to the debate at the Stage 1 hearings, as well as an examination of all other policies and proposals in the plan. Following from the Stage 1 hearings, which were held at the Town Hall in Nuneaton, the inspector signed it off to progress to Stage 2 with a caveat that the council provides further information on housing requirement and housing land supply.

The Borough Plan is the most important and yet contentious piece of council policy in recent years as it has the potential to impact on so many communities. It will shape what the two towns will potentially look like by 2031.