Partial Review Examination

The Inspector

The Secretary of State has appointed Louise Gibbons BA(Hon) MRTPI as Inspector to undertake the independent examination into whether the North West Leicestershire Local Plan Partial Review is sound and complies with all the legal requirements. The criteria for soundness are whether the Plan’s policies are positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy.  

Programme Officer

Carmel Edwards has been appointed as the Programme Officer for the examination and will deal with all procedural and administrative matters. She is independent from the Council and reports directly to the Inspector. Ms Edwards is responsible for the day to day organisation of the examination and will act as a channel of communication between the Inspector and all parties, including the Council officers and representors.

All correspondence or queries relating to the examination should be directed to the Programme Officer.

Contact details:

Ms Carmel Edwards

C/O North West Leicestershire District Council

Council Offices

Whitwick Road

Coalville

Leicestershire

LE67 3FJ

Telephone: 07969 631930

Email: programmeofficer@carmeledwards.com

Hearing sessions

Copies of all Hearing Statements can be viewed on the Hearing Statements page.  Following the postponement of the Examination originally scheduled to commence on 12 May 2020, the Examination went ahead virtually via Microsoft Teams commencing on 15 September 2020. Details are set out in the Notice of Examination. The Inspector updated her Guidance Note for participants in the virtual hearings. It can be viewed in the Examination Library as INS04a

Hearing agendas

Agenda for Tuesday 15 September 2020 

Agenda for Wednesday 16 September 2020

Agenda for Thursday 17 September 2020

Videos of hearing sessions

All the virtual hearing sessions were held via Microsoft Teams. It was not possible to stream these live but they were all recorded and a link to the videos posted in the table below. Here is a link to the planning privacy notice .

Date	Time	Session
Tuesday 15 September	10:00	Issue 1 - Procedural requirements NWL Local Plan Partial Review examination hearing Transcript (Word Document, 0.13 Mb)
	14:00	Issue 1 - Procedural requirements (Session not required)
Wednesday 16 September	10:00	Issue 2 - Policy S1 NWL Local Plan Partial Review hearings Transcript (Word Document, 0.12 Mb)
	14:00	Issue 2 - Policy S1 (continued) NWL Local Plan Partial Review hearings Wednesday Transcript (Word Document, 0.15 Mb)
Thursday 17 September	10:00	Issue 3 - Paragraph 5.8 NWL Local Plan Partial Review hearings Thursday Transcript (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)

Proposed Modifications

Following the Examination hearings held in September 2020, the Inspector, Louise Gibbons BA (Hons) MRTPI, requested that the Council consult on a number of  Main Modifications which are required to make the North West Leicestershire Local Plan Partial Review publication version sound.  This consultation is without prejudice to the Inspector’s final conclusions and recommendations on the Plan.

A Final Sustainability Appraisal Report of the Local Plan Partial Review was also consulted upon.

No changes were made the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) published at the publication stage as none of the modifications impact on the conclusions of the original HRA.

The consultation closed on 10 January 2021. The representations received and the Council's responses have been sent to the Inspector who will take them into account before she completes her report. More information about the representations and the Council's responses is available on the Modifications Consultation page. 

In addition, the council consulted on a schedule of Minor Modifications . These Minor Modifications largely seek to update the document, avoid duplication and improve clarity and presentation. In the Council’s opinion they do not alter the overall impact of the Plan, change its direction or affect the substance or soundness of the document. The Minor Modifications will not be considered by the Inspector, as they are not relevant to her report, but consultation responses about them have considered by the Council. More information about the comments on the Minor Modifications and the Council's response is available on the Modifications Consultation page. 

Inspector's Report

The Council received the final Inspector's Report in respect of the Examination of the Partial Review and, subject to the Main Modifications, the Inspector found the review to be ‘sound’. 

Adoption

The North West Leicestershire Local Plan (as amended by the Partial Review) was adopted at Council on 16 March 2021.  

Examination library

The Examination Library contains a list of documents submitted for examination and background documents that have informed the production of the Local Plan Review. It also contains documents relating to the examination and will be updated as the examination progresses.

Consultation on the Publication (Pre-submission) version of the Local Plan Partial Review took place between 20 November 2019 and 8 January 2020. Representations received during this period have been sent to the Inspector as part of the evidence base for submission and can be viewed in the Examination Library. The Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 18 February 2020.

The Examination process

If you wish to find out in more detail how the examination will be carried out the Planning Inspectorate has produced a useful guide: Examining Local Plans Procedural Practice.

Examination News

Keep up to date with the latest examination news. This will be regularly updated and direct you to any new documents or correspondence.