Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

“I fully expect the inspector to adopt a professional attitude, his job is to find out whether our plan is sound or not”

The planning inspector’s role is to assess if a local plan as document is sound and not to investigate recent claims and counter-claims, a meeting heard.

The public hearings on Bedford Borough Council’s Local Plan 2040 start today (Monday, June 12), with sessions being held for the next two weeks.

Jon Shortland, the council’s chief officer for planning, infrastructure and economic growth, told the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday (June 8) that further sessions will be held during September.

Jon Shortland at the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee 8/6/23

“We will be examined on each policy area covered by the plan and subjected to questioning by the inspector, and also by the barristers employed by opponents of the plan,” he said.

Councillor Jonathan Abbott (LibDem, Clapham & Oakley) said he was “very pleased” that the local plan is continuing.

He asked if the recent statements and decisions about the plan would effect at the inquiry

Mr Shortland replied: “I fully expect the inspector to adopt a professional attitude, his job is to find out whether our plan is sound or not.

“It’s not to investigate the reasons that might exist for people having different thoughts about it.

“He’s been presented with an objectively real document and his job is to work out whether that is sound or not.

“In our experience, and the experience of other councils across the country, most inspectors come to the conclusion that plans could be sound with certain modifications.

“We fully expect there to be modifications to our plan through this process and indeed, we’ve proposed a few before we start of areas where different policies could be tightened up or slackened off in the light of things which have come to light since we wrote them.

“So the process will be an iterative one. We will present our case, the opponents of the plan will present their cases.

“The inspector’s job is to decide which of us has got it right.

“I’m confident that with most cases the council will prove to have got it right,” he said.

Bedford council's Local Plan 2040 public hearings start today