Rutland local plan setting out development for county finally moves forward

Three years after a major upset and £2m later, the plan that will map out development in Rutland into the 2040s is finally moving on.

Rutland County Council unanimously approved the draft local plan last night (Thursday, September 26) which means it will now go out to a final consultation with the public.

In 2021 the furore over the St George Barracks development derailed the former local plan and sent the authority back to the drawing board, but the scenes in the council chamber at Catmose House were much calmer last night as councillors of all political colours voted in favour.

Cabinet member for planning, Coun Paul Browne (Lib Dem) said just by approving the draft plan it would immediately be given more weight in planning matters. He appealed to his fellow councillors not to reject it.
He said voting against it would mean another likely £2m cost, which the authority did not have and would put the authority and would threaten the authority’s five year land supply, which would put it at the mercy of developers (who would then have more say on where homes could be built).

Conservative Coun Lucy Stephenson, who was is a former leader of the council, said she thought the council had ‘learnt its lesson’ on the local plan.

Creating a new plan has cost the council, which is currently under extreme financial pressure, an extra £2m.

Rutland residents will now have their chance to say whether they agree with the overall plan or disagree. They cannot make comments about individual developments, as this stage has now passed.

However once it has been approved the plan will almost certainly go under revision due to the new national targets being imposed by the Labour government. Rutland could see its housing targets almost double from a required 123 built each year to 264.

The council’s head of planning Roger Ransome was praised for his work on leading the new plan.