The City Plan Part 2 will be subject to an independent examination to be conducted by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State. This is a continuous process running from the date of submission through to the receipt of the appointed Planning Inspector’s Report.
The examination will assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and if it is sound. The 4 tests of soundness are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
The Inspector will consider the evidence provided by the council to support the plan and any representations which have been put forward by local people and other interested parties. In most cases the examination will include hearing sessions which are held in public.
At the end of the examination the Inspector will send a report to the council recommending whether or not they can adopt the plan. In most cases the report will recommend some changes that are necessary to allow the plan to be adopted. These are known as ‘main modifications’.
Hearing sessions are likely to take place in the autumn of 2021. Once confirmed, all details relating to the examination process will be advertised, made available online and sent to those people who asked to be notified of the examination.
The Planning Inspectorate has produced a useful guide, if you'd like to find out more about how the examination will be carried out.