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Representation ID: 7451

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: Phillip C Bath Ltd

Agent: DLP Planning Limited

Emerging Oxford Cambridge Arc Spatial Framework
The proposed Oxford-Cambridge Spatial Framework will have the status of national policy and is intended to form a material consideration for plan-making alongside the National Planning Policy Framework.
The government is currently seeking view on priorities for the Framework as part of consultation on the document ‘Creating a Vision for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc’ (until October 2021). The latest consultation proposals set out that it will aim to guide sustainable planning and investment decisions under four policy pillars:
• the environment;
• the economy;
• connectivity and infrastructure; and
• place-making.
The current consultation follows publication of an initial policy paper in February 2021 setting out the approach to developing the Framework. Paragraphs 2.10 and 2.11 of the policy paper set out in terms of the strategy for housing and planning in the Arc the role of the Framework will not be to make site allocations or to include detailed policies set elsewhere in national policy or better left to local plans (including for example, setting out the housing requirement). However, the policy paper emphasises the importance of meeting housing needs in full (including the delivery of affordable housing) and therefore relies on the calculation of minimum annual local housing need in accordance with the standard method as its starting point. Opportunities to increase levels of development above this minimum starting point are clearly anticipated as part of the Framework’s aspirations to support economic development and ensure a balance between the delivery of new jobs and homes (see paragraph 2.6).
Paragraph 3.8 of the policy paper sets our that the government expects: “ local planning authorities to continue to develop local plans before the publication of the Spatial Framework. These changes will sit alongside wider planning reforms, and as we take forward our response to the ‘Planning for the Future’ consultation, we will outline transitional arrangements and the role of the Spatial Framework within any new system.”
The development of the Spatial Framework will be supported by two further public consultations: Towards a Spatial Framework (Spring 2022) and Draft Spatial Framework (Autumn 2022). It is the government’s intention to commence implementation of the Spatial Framework throughout 2023, meaning its policies are expected to be in place as a material consideration at the same point the Bedford Local Plan 2040 is undergoing Examination.