Publication Local Plan, Chapter 1: Introduction

What is the Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations?

1.1 The primary purposes of the ‘Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations’ (SLP; DMP) are to:                                                                              

• Provide the main policies that will be used to manage development and determine planning applications
• Identify the designations that will protect the city’s most important environmental assets, town centres and infrastructure
• Support the delivery of key infrastructure, such as transport and utilities

1.2 It covers the period up to 2037, although its contents may also be relevant after that date.

1.3 The ‘Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations’ is one of the documents that forms the development plan for Salford. The other documents that are, or will be, part of the development plan for the city are the:

• Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development Plan Document (adopted in April 2012)
• Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan Document (adopted in April 2013)
• Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (under production)
• Salford Local Plan: Core Strategy and Allocations (to be produced)

1.4 The development plan is important as planning law requires that applications for planning permission be determined in accordance with it unless material considerations indicate otherwise [1].

1.5 It is possible that local communities may use their powers under the Localism Act 2011 to produce neighbourhood plans for their areas. Such documents would also form part of Salford’s development plan, and hence would have significant weight in decision-making. Neighbourhood plans must be in general conformity with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) and the strategic policies of the Local Plan. The policies in this Development Management Policies and Designations document that are defined as strategic policies are identified in Annex E.

1.6 This Development Management Policies and Designations document includes a series of policies organised by topic. Policy text is in bold. Before each policy is a reasoned justification, which explains and justifies the approach in the policy. The plan also contains a series of diagrams, which illustrate the various policies and assist in their understanding. A Policies Map has been published which shows the areas of land that have been given a protective designation or otherwise relate to specific policies in this plan. The existing adopted map layers from the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development Plan Document (April 2012) and Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan Document (April 2013) will be retained and are listed on the Policies Map for information.

How does this document relate to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework?

1.7 The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is a strategic plan that will cover the whole of Greater Manchester, and is being produced collaboratively by the Mayor of Greater Manchester and the ten local authorities in the area [2]. The GMSF will set out the overall spatial strategy for Greater Manchester, including identifying the appropriate scale and distribution of housing and employment development across Greater Manchester. This includes specifying the housing requirement for Salford. The GMSF will also contain a series of strategic policies and allocations aimed at delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for Greater Manchester.

1.8 Some of the major decisions regarding Salford’s future development will effectively be taken through the GMSF. Salford-specific parts of the development plan need to be in general conformity with the GMSF. All decisions about whether Green Belt boundaries in Salford should be altered, including whether any existing Green Belt should be de-designated so that it can be developed, will be made through the GMSF.

How does this document relate to the proposed Salford Local Plan: Core Strategy and Allocations document?

1.9 The city council initially started preparing a single Salford Local Plan, the scope of which would have covered both the contents of this Development Management Policies and Designations document and the proposed Core Strategy and Allocations document. However, it is not possible to complete those elements relating to the scale and distribution of development in Salford, and the allocations required to deliver it, until the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is adopted. Due to delays in the GMSF process, it was decided that rather than continuing to delay the Salford Local Plan as a result, it would be preferable to narrow its scope so those elements relating to development management policies and designations could be adopted much more quickly.

1.10 Hence the first part of the Salford Local Plan is this Development Management Policies and Designations document. The second part will be the Core Strategy and Allocations document, but it will not be possible to complete it until the GMSF has been adopted. The Core Strategy and Allocations document will update the overall planning strategy for the city, provide additional detail on the scale and distribution of development proposed for Salford, and allocate individual sites for particular types of development. The timetable for producing it will be set out in the Local Development Scheme.

Are there any other planning documents relevant to this plan?

1.11 The city council has produced a series of supplementary planning documents (SPDs), which provide more detailed advice on how some of the existing Unitary Development Plan policies will be implemented. These SPDs will be updated to reflect the policies in this Development Management Policies and Designations document once it is adopted, and additional SPDs will be produced where required. The SPDs do not form part of the development plan, but are nevertheless important material considerations in decision-making.

What has been the process for producing the Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations?

1.12 The process for producing this plan has been largely set by Government policy and statutory requirements. Four stages of consultation were undertaken, followed by a period for representations, as shown in Table 1 below. The four consultation stages all related to a full Salford Local Plan, before the scope of the document was reduced to focus on development management policies and designations.

Table 1: Stages of consultation undertaken to date

1.13 The stages remaining in producing the Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations, together with the anticipated dates, are set out in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Remaining stages in the production of the Salford Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations

Sustainability appraisal

1.14 A sustainability appraisal report has been produced to accompany this plan, which appraises it against each of the 21 sustainability objectives. The sustainability appraisal report identifies a number of mitigation measures which, if implemented, could assist in improving the overall sustainability of the plan, and these have been incorporated in this version as far as possible. The appraisal also indicates that the updated policy framework and additional details within this plan would be expected to bring additional benefits in relation to a number of the sustainability objectives.

References

[1] Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

[2] Bolton Council, Bury Council, Manchester City Council, Oldham Council, Rochdale Council, Salford City Council, Stockport Council, Tameside Council, Trafford Council, and Wigan Council

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