Core Strategy Review Examination News and Updates

Core Strategy Review Examination News and Updates (2020)

29 December 2020

New Documents added to Evidence Based Library and Examination Based Library today:

21 December 2020

The Inspectors have today issued the Agendas for week two and week three of the Examination of the F&HDC Core Strategy Review commencing on Tuesday January 5,  2021 at 09:30 hours:

20 December 2020

The Council has added a new document to the Evidence Based Library  today:

18 December 2020

Additional information sent from participant from Matter 6 on 17 December, 2020

The Council has added a new document to the Evidence Based Library today:

17 December 2020

The Council has added a new document into the Evidence Based Library today:

16 December 2020

Two additional amendments have been added to the Examination Evidence Based Library:

The Council has today added a new document to the Evidence Based Library List for the Examination:

12 December 2020

The Examination of the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Core Strategy Review will commence on Tuesday 15 December, 2020 at 09:30 hours.  The hearing sessions will proceed entirely "virtually" using video conferencing technology to protect the health of all participants.  All of the "virtual hearing sessions"  will be streamed live on the Council's "YouTube" Channel via the following link:   bit.ly/YouTubeMeetings

07 December 2020

The Council have today added two new documents to the Evidence Based Library for the Examination:

27 November 2020

The Inspectors have issued the Agendas for first four days of the Virtual Hearing Sessions of the Core Strategy Review Examination that will commence on Tuesday 15 December, 2020 at 09:30am:

  • Agenda for Matter 1 (Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 09:30am) - Procedural/Legal Requirements  FHDC EX036 (PDF, 496KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 2 (Tuesday 15 December 2020 morning following Matter 1) - Duty to Co-operate FHDC EX037 (PDF, 469KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 3 (Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 14:00pm) - The Housing Requirement FHDC EX038 (PDF, 481KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 4 (Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 09:30am) - District Spatial Strategy, Place Shaping and Sustainable Settlements  FHDC EX039 (PDF, 482KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 9 (Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 14:00pm) - Balanced Neighbourhoods and District Residential Needs  FHDC EX040 (PDF, 481KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 5 (Thursday 17 December 2020 at 09:30am) - Strategy for the Urban Area  FHDC EX041 (PDF, 491KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 6 (Thursday 17 December 2020 at 14:00pm)- Strategy for the Romney Marsh Area  FHDC EX042 (PDF, 582KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 10 (Friday 18 December 2020 at 09:30am) - Economic & Retail Growth and the Strategy for Priority Centres of Activities  FHDC EX043 (PDF, 487KB)

All these Virtual Hearing Sessions will be streamed live on the Council's "YouTube" channel.

23 November 2020

The latest timetable for the "virtual" hearing sessions has been published today and can be downloaded from the Core Strategy Review Examination Documents Page, or directly using this link Virtual Hearings Timetable (PDF, 744KB).

5 November 2020

The hearing sessions for the examination which were due to commence at 9.30am on Tuesday 3 November 2020 in the Civic Centre have been postponed.

The inspectors and the council consider it would be now unsafe to proceed with the physical hearings in light of the new national restrictions relating to COVID-19.

The hearing sessions will now proceed entirely virtually using video conferencing technology to protect the health of all participants.

The timetable for the hearing sessions has been put back to allow all necessary arrangements to be made and to provide adequate notification. It is now proposed to commence the hearing sessions at 9.30am on Tuesday 15 December 2020.

2 November 2020

The revised Notification for the  (Virtual Hearings)Examination of the Folkestone & Hythe District Council has been published today:  FHDC EX031 (PDF, 455KB)

The timetable for the hearing sessions has been agreed with the Council and they are planned for:

  • Tuesday 15 December to Friday 18 December, 2020
  • Tuesday 5 January to Friday 8 January, 2021
  • Tuesday 12 January and Wednesday 13 January, 2021

A copy of the detailed timetable can be downloaded from FHDC EX032 (PDF, 574.KB)

The hearing sessions will be run using the video conferencing technology "Zoom" and further details will be issued in the very near future.

2 November 2020

Postponement of Examination Hearings for Core Strategy Review

The hearing sessions for the examination which were due to commence at 09:30am on Tuesday 3 November 2020 in the Civic Centre have been postponed. 

The  Inspectors and the Council consider it would be now unsafe to proceed with the physical hearings in light of the new national restrictions relating to Coronavirus (Covid 19).

The hearing sessions will now proceed entirely "virtually" using video conferencing technology to protect the health of all participants.  The timetable for the hearing sessions has been put back to allow all necessary arrangements to be made and to provide adequate notification. 

It is now proposed to commence the hearing sessions at 09:30am on Tuesday 15 December 2020.

A revised detailed timetable for the sessions is being issued.

30 October 2020

Examination Hearings Timetable

The latest version of the hearing programme with additional dates for virtual hearing sessions has been added today and can be downloaded from FHDC EX015b (PDF, 333KB)

Updated Documents from The Council to The Inspectors

Following a request from the Inspectors for additional information the Council has issued updates on:

29 October 2020

The Planning Inspectorate Privacy Notice for Zoom Hosted Local Plan Examinations (Virtual Hearings) FHDC EX029 (PDF, 90KB)

The Folkestone and Hythe District Council Virtual & Physical Examination in Public Core Strategy Review - Privacy Notice FHDC EX030 (PDF, 170KB)

Both notices have been uploaded with regard to the Examination of the Core Strategy Review

Evidence Base Updated

The Council today added a new document to the Evidence Base in response to questions from the Inspectors and this has been added to the Evidence Base Library

28 October 2020

The Inspectors have issued today the Agenda for Day 4 of the Examination - Friday November 6, 2020:

  • Agenda for Matter 10 - Economic and Retail Growth and the Strategy for Priority Centres of Activity - Friday 6 November 2020 (Morning Session)  FHDC EX028 (PDF, 486KB)

27 October 2020

The Inspectors have issued today the Agendas for the first four days of the Examination:

  • Agenda for Matter 1 - Procedural/Legal Requirements - Tuesday 3 November 2020 (Morning Session) FHDC EX021 (PDF, 324KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 2 - Duty to Co-operate - Tuesday 3 November 2020 (Morning Session) FHDC EX022 (PDF, 316KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 3 - The Housing Requirement - Tuesday 3 November (Afternoon Session) FHDC EX023 (PDF, 350KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 4 - District Spatial Strategy, Place Shaping and Sustainable Settlements - Wednesday 4 November 2020 (Morning Session) FHDC EX024 (PDF, 352KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 9 - Balanced Neighbourhoods and District Residential Needs - Wednesday 4 November 2020 (Afternoon Session)  FHDC EX025 (PDF, 351KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 5 - Strategy for the Urban Area - Thursday 5 November 2020, (Virtual Session) (Morning Session) FHDC EX026 (PDF, 524KB)
  • Agenda for Matter 6 - Strategy for the Romney Marsh Area - Thursday 5 November 2020 (Afternoon Session) FHDC EX027 (PDF, 581KB)

All sessions will be streamed live and further details on how to access this will be published in the very near future.

The Council have published an updated version of the FHDC CSR Otterpool Park Viability Assessment dated 27.10.2020 FHDC CSR Otterpool VA V2 (PDF, 5.99MB)

20 October 2020

The Inspectors have issued the latest version of the Examination Hearings Timetable including the dates for the Virtual Hearing Sessions of the "Blended" Examination. 

The timetable for the "virtual" hearing sessions agreed with the Council are planned for:

  • Week 1:  Thursday 5 November, 2020 (Morning Session only)
  • Week 3:  Wednesday 18 November and Friday 20 November, 2020
  • Week 4:  Monday 23 November and Wednesday 25 November, 2020

The amended draft hearing programme sets out the date on which each matter will be discussed and includes both the physical "in person" hearing and virtual "video use" hearing sessions and is available to download from here Amended Examination Hearings Timetable (PDF, 272KB)

The Inspectors have issued their notes to Participants on how the sessions are going to be run and instructions on joining them.  Details can be found within the Examination Document Library.

The Council's risk assessment of the Civic Centre has been published in the examination library Risk Assessment (PDF, 599KB)

The Draft Hearing Timetable sets out the date on which each matter will be discussed and an agenda will be published a few days before each session confirming the issues to be discussed and participants.

The hearing sessions are public events and will be available to view via a link on the Council's website.  This is the main means of observing the sessions as there is no capacity for non-participants to attend the physical sessions and the virtual sessions will be run using a video conferencing facility.  This is in line with latest legislation and Government guidance relating to the coronavirus pandemic.  If the legislation and or/guidance changes before or during the planned hearing sessions, then procedures may need to be changed.  Details on the accessing the link will be published in due course.

22 September 2020

The Inspectors have now confirmed the dates for the Examination Hearings for the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Core Strategy Review.  

Notification of Examination of Folkestone & Hythe District Council Core Strategy Review - Notification of Hearings is published today. FHDC EX013 (PDF, 143KB)

Hearing Sessions

The Notification for the Examination of the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Core Strategy Review has been published today (22 September 2020).

The timetable for the hearing sessions has been agreed with the Council and they are planned for:

  • Week 1: Tuesday 3 November to Friday 6 November 2020
  • Week 2: Tuesday 10 November to Friday 13 November 2020

The draft hearing programme sets out the date on which each matter will be discussed and is available to download from here. FHDC EX015 (PDF, 543KB)

The hearing sessions are planned to be held in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre. They are planned for participants to attend physically, by a virtual link (using video conferencing (Zoom) or by telephone. The hearing sessions will be available to view on the Council's website as there is no capacity for the non-participants to attend physically.

Details of how the hearings will operate having regard to the latest legislation and Government guidance relating to the coronavirus pandemic will be set out in a note due to be published by the Inspectors in due course. If the legislation and or/guidance changes prior to or during the programmed hearing sessions, procedures may need to be changed.

Examination Process

If you would like to find out the more detail on how Examinations should be carried out, and the latest information from the Planning Inspectorate please visit their website using this link.    

22 July 2020

The Inspectors are currently reviewing the Council's written responses to the Matters, Issues and Questions.  They are also reviewing all representors who have requested to speak at the Examination Hearings and all additional statements received for the Hearings. 

Local Plan Hearings currently cannot take place and the Inspectors are reviewing the situation in line with the advice from the Planning Inspectorate. There must be notification of the opening of the hearing sessions at least six weeks in advance.  Once the Inspectors are in a position to confirm the date for the start of Examination hearing sessions, the necessary notice will be given and published.

However,  presently the Examination is not likely to be held before late Autumn 2020 due to the Coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic and public health  safeguarding and social distancing measures in operation and  the Planning Inspectorate's guidelines.

09 June 2020

The Council have responded to the further queries raised by the Inspectors from 21 May, 2020.

The letter can be viewed in the Examination Documents Library at FHDC EX012 FHDC response to inspectors additional questions from May 22.2020 dated 09.06.2020 (PDF, 28KB)

The further evidence document detailed in the Council's response (CIL Charging Schedule Review Viability Report (BPS June 2019) can be found within the Evidence Based Document Library EB 03.71. 

22 May 2020

The Inspectors have published the Main Matters, Issues and Questions, Inspectors' Guidance Notes, and Indicative Running Order for Hearing Sessions for the Examination of the Folkestone and Hythe District Core Strategy Review.

The deadline for receipt of written updates on any original submissions is 5pm on Friday July 3, 2020.

At this stage of the examination the Inspectors are unable to set the date for the opening of the hearing sessions and a specific timetable for each session. Given the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the public health safeguarding and social distancing measures in operation, the hearing sessions cannot currently take place in the form envisaged.

The Inspectors will keep this situation under regular review and liaise with the Council as the situation evolves.

The Programme Officer's Letter and the relevant documents can be viewed in the Examination Documents Library with references FHDC EX008, EX009, EX010 and EX011 

Please check back here for regular updates regarding the Examination of the Folkestone and Hythe District Core Strategy Review.

21 May 2020

The Inspectors have written to the Council with further queries and requests regarding the Core Strategy Review. 

The letter can be viewed in the Examination Documents Library at FHDC EX007.

05 May 2020

The Council have responded to the Initial Queries letter dated 06 April, 2020

The response can be viewed in the Examination Documents at FHDC EX004, EX005, and EX006 

06 April 2020

The Inspectors have written to the Council with initial queries and requests regarding the Core Strategy Review

The letter can be viewed in the Examination Documents Library at FHDC EX003

25 March 2020

All respondents from Reg 19 Consultation were notified on the appointment of Inspectors to carry out an independent Examination of the Core Strategy Review Plan.

The notification can be viewed in the Examination Documents Library at FHDC EX002 

24 March 2020

Core Strategy Review 

The Inspectors are currently appraising the Plan, the associated evidence and the representations submitted at the Regulation 19 stage, and further information on the examination process, including the timing of any hearing sessions will be published in due time.  This may not be for a number of weeks.

19 March 2020

Appointment of Planning Inspectors

The Secretary of State has now appointed two inspectors Kevin Ward BA (Hons) MRTPI and Philip Mileham BA (Hons) MRTPI to carry out the independent Examination of the Plan. 

The Inspectors will determine whether it has been prepared in accordance with the relevant legal requirements and whether it is "sound" i.e. positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy.

Their task is to consider whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with the relevant legal requirement and if the plan is sound, based on the criteria set out in paragraph 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework).

The plan should be:

  • positively prepared - it should be based on a strategy that looks at meeting objectively assessed development and infrastructure requirements. This includes; where reasonable to do so; those unmet by our neighbours. It should also be consistent with achieving sustainable development
  • justified - it should be the most appropriate strategy, when considered against reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence
  • effective - it should be deliverable and based on effective joint working with neighbours and partners
  • consistent with national policy - it should enable the delivery of sustainable development set out by national policy

Programme Officer

Caroline Williams has been appointed as the Programme Officer. She is an independent Officer of the examination and works on the inspector's behalf, organising and managing the administrative and procedural matters of the examination process.

The Programme Officer acts as the contact for any person who has an interest in the examination, liaising between the Inspectors, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Representors.

Any matters that anyone wishes to raise with the Inspectors should be submitted through the Programme Officer.

Any queries about the examination or any correspondence to the inspector should be sent to:

Caroline Williams
Programme Officer
Civic Centre, Castle Hill Avenue
Folkestone, Kent. CT20 2QY
Office:   01303 853376
Mobile:  07860 735073

Email: programme.officer@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

FHDC EX001 Local Plan 4 - Appointment Inspector LPA (3) 19 March 2020_Redacted (PDF, 1318KB)

10 March 2020

Submission of the Folkestone & Hythe District Core Strategy Review

On 10 March 2020 in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, Folkestone and Hythe District Council submitted the Core Strategy Review to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for examination by a Planning Inspector.

Please find relevant documents:

  • Core Strategy Review Submission Draft (Regulation 19 incorporating Housing Numbers Consultation) 2020;
  • Sustainability Appraisals for the Regulation 19 draft (2019) and the Housing Numbers Update consultation (2020);
  • Habitats Regulations Assessments for the Regulation 19 draft (2019) and the Housing Numbers Update consultation (2020); and
  • Consultation (Regulation 22 (c)) Statement

Folkestone & Hythe Core Strategy Review Submission Draft 2020 (EB 01.00) [(PDF, 16.17MB)

Folkestone & Hythe District Core Strategy Review Submission Draft Consultation Statement (EB 01.90) (PDF, 2.02MB)

Folkestone Hythe Core Strategy Review Proposed Changes SA Addendum final November 2019 (EB 02.10) PDF, 324KB)

Folkestone and Hythe Core Strategy Review Proposed Changes HRA Addendum final November 2019 (EB 02.20) (PDF, 172KB) 

FHDC Sustainability Appraisal Report – Reg. 19 Submission Version 2018 – Main Report & Appendices (EB 02.40) (PDF, 35.95MB]

FHDC Sustainability Appraisal Report – Reg. 19 Submission Version 2018 – Non Technical Summary (EB 02.50) [25.12MB] 

FHDC Habitat Regulations Assessment – Reg. 19 Submission Version 2018 (EB 02.60) (PDF, 1.73MB) 

Statement of Inspection (PDF, 281KB)

Further evidence based documents supporting the Core Strategy Review

Once appointed the Planning Inspector will consider the soundness of the plan and whether it meets the requisite legal and procedural requirements. 

Further details of the stages which lead up to a public examination will be published in due course.