Copeland Borough Council has now submitted the Local Plan to the Secretary of State for independent examination.
This page provides the latest updates as the Local Plan progresses through the examination process.
Submission to the Secretary of State
The Copeland Local Plan 2021-2038, comprising the Publication Draft (January 2022) and Addendum (July 2022), was formally submitted to the Secretary on Friday, September 16, for independent public examination. Read our press release about the submission of the Local Plan.
The Planning Inspector
Mrs Caroline Mulloy BSc. (Hons) DipTP MRTPI has been appointed by the Secretary of State as the Inspector. She will conduct an examination into the Local Plan to determine whether it is legally compliant and sound.
The Planning Inspectorate has produced a guide to help participants positively engage in the process.
The Programme Officer
Miny Schofield is the Programme Officer for the examination. She is an independent officer working under the direction of the Inspector and is the point of contact for any correspondence relating to the examination. Miny’s contact details are:
- Programme.Officer@copeland.gov.uk
- Programme Officer, Market Hall, Market Place, Whitehaven, CA28 7JG
- 07799724690
Privacy Notice
Copeland Borough Council's Privacy Notice.
Planning Inspectorate Privacy Notice for the Local Plan.
Local Plan Examination Library
All documentation and correspondence associated with the examination can be found in the Examination Library
Latest News
March
28 March 2024
The Main Modifications consultation has now closed. Submitted comments will be made available to view in the Examination Library in due course. The Inspector will now take these comments into consideration before presenting the Council with her Final Report.
February
14 February 2024
The Consulation into the Main Modifications identified by the inspector has now begun. Full details and all documents can be found at Main Modifications Consultation | Copeland Borough Council
June
26 June 2023
The next stage of the Examination in Public will be a consultation carried out by the Council on any proposed Main Modifications which the Inspector deems necessary for the plan to be sound. Due to evidence still outstanding, preparation for this consultation has been paused. The Inspector has now issued a request to the Council with a deadline for receipt of this information. Please see INS07 Inspectors Procedural Note to the Council.
12 June 2023
INS06 Copeland Local Plan Inspectors Post Hearing Letter 09 June 2023 is a now available to view in the Examination Library
March
20 March 2023
Completed actions points as listed in documents CBC43 - Total additional affordable dwellings figures questioned by Home Builders Federation and CBC47 - Map of Combined Sewer in relation to housing allocation HDI1, are now available to view in the Examination Library.
15 March 2023
Document CBC25a - Examination Hearing Action Points List has now been updated to include further completed tasks
08 March 2023
The Copeland Local Plan live hearing sessions closed today. The Inspector will now prepare a post hearing letter to the Council, highlighting the next steps and way forward. During the hearing sessions, several actions points were raised. The Council’s responses to the action points will be added to the Local Plan Examination Library as they become available and highlighted in updated versions of document CBC25 Actions Points List.
Today’s final session on Matter 20 Monitoring & Closing Session Heairng Agenda ended with a Closing Remarks session with the Inspector and the Council. Prior to this session, there was a brief session on the Habitat Regulations Assessment. Further information on any of the sessions may be obtained from the Programme Officer – Miny Schofield 07799 724690.
06 March 2023
HA19 Matter19 Hearing Agenda Implementation and Viability and HA 20 Matter 20 Monitoring & Closing Session Hearing Agenda is a now available to view in the Examination Library.
3 March 2023
Week 3 of the Local Plan Examination hearings closed yesterday. Sessions for week 4 will commence on Tuesday 7th March 2023 at 9.30 am for Matter 14 – Development Standards.
For further information please refer to the ‘Live Hearings Information’ page in the Examination Library.
HA 12 Matter 12 Hearing Agenda - Health Sport Culture and HA 14 Matter 14 Hearing Agenda - Development Standards is a now available to view in the Examination Library.
1 March 2023
HA 18 Matter 18 Hearing Agenda Housing Development Policies is a now available to view in the Examination Library.
February
28 February 2023
Document CBC28 containing site assessment information for sites at Laurel Bank and Red Lonning Playing Fields and providing supporting information for the Matter 10 hearing session for Natural Environment is now available to view in the Examination Library.
28 February 2023
Documents CBC23 - Housing Trajectory, CBC24 Response to Matter 15 Action Point 59-Updated Housing Trajectory and CBC26 Five-Year Housing Land Supply Statement are now available to view in the Examination Library. These documents will assist the discussion on Thursday 2nd March 2023 (9.30am) in the Matter 17 hearing session for The Supply and Delivery of Housing Land.
Matter 15 Opportunity Sites - Hearings continued:
Due to insufficient time during the Matter 15 hearing sessions, not all opportunity sites were addressed. As a result, the remaining sites will be discussed in part, at the end of other hearing sessions over the next 2 weeks. If there is a site for which you wish to attend as a spectator, please contact the Programme Officer with your details and the site details in which you are interested. For all opportunity sites, please refer to the Matter 15 Hearing agenda HA 15.2.
28 February 2023
Week 3 of the Copeland Local Plan examination in public live hearings commence today in the Bainbridge Room at the Copeland Centre in Whitehaven at 9.30am. This week will cover Matters 9,10, 11,13,17 and 18, starting with Matter 13 on Connectivity. For all hearing information and agendas please refer to the Local plan webpages here Copeland Local Plan Examination in Public - Live Hearings Information
27 February 2023
HA 17 Matter 17 Agenda Housing Land Supply is a now available to view in the Examination Library.
23 February 2023
Action points which have arisen during weeks 1 and 2 of the examination hearings may be viewed in document CBC25. As items are completed, the documents will be linked to this list. They may also be viewed in the Local Plan Examination Library
22 February 2023
The following documents are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- HA 09 Matter 9 Hearing Agenda Rural Economy and Tourism
- HA 10 Matter 10 Hearing Agenda Natural Environment
- HA 11 Matter 11 Heaing Agenda Built Environment
- HA 13 Matter 13 Hearing Agenda Connectivity
16 February 2023
Week 3 of Local Plan live hearings will commence on Tuesday 28th February 2023 at 9.30 am for Matter 13 – Connectivity. For a full timetable of dates and sessions, please refer to the ‘Live hearings information’ document in the Examination Library.
13 February 2023
Due to the sessions on Housing Allocations running over the scheduled time last week on Wednesday morning and afternoon for Matter 15, an additional session will be held this week on Thursday 16th February at 9.30am to cover the remaining sites. Please find a new agenda HA15.2 for your information. For sites where other parties had requested to participate, these sites were addressed at the previous sessions. The remaining sites will be discussed with only the Council in attendance on Thursday and spectators are welcome to attend.
7 February 2023
Late submissions accepted by the Inspector, prior to the Matter 15 Housing Allocations hearing session which is due to take place tomorrow morning are as follows:
From Homes England
- OTH 01 Letter to Programme Officer from Homes England re: Planning Application Appeal
- OTH 02 Homes England Statement of Case
- OTH 03 Homes England Draft Statement of Common Ground
From Natural England
07 February 2023
Week 2 of the Copeland Local Plan live hearings commence today in the Bainbridge Room at the Copeland Centre in Whitehaven at 9.30am. This week will cover Matters 7, 8, 15 and 16. For all hearing information and agendas please refer to the Local plan webpages here: Copeland Local Plan Examination in Public - Live Hearings Information
03 February 2023
The following documents are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- CBC13 Final Education Topic Paper
- CBC14 Opening Statement by Chris Hoban – Strategic Planning Manager, at the Start of the 2023 Local Plan Examination Hearings
- CBC15 Ground Investigation Report for Gypsy and Traveller site GTW5 – Overend Quarry (1988), which was requested by the Inspector during the Matter 5 Hearing session on Other Housing Requirements.
2 February 2023
The following Local Plan Examination Hearing Agenda's are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- HA 15 Matter 15 Hearing Agenda Housing Allocations Main Towns - Wednesday 8 February - 9.30am
- HA 15.1 Matter 15 Hearing Agenda Housing Allocations Wednesday 8 February - 2pm
- HA 16 Matter 16 Hearing Agenda Employment Site Allocations Thursday 9th February 9.30am - all day
1 February 2023
CBC 13 Education Topic Paper - January 2023 is a now available to view in the Examination Library.
The following Local Plan Examination Hearing Agenda's are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- HA 08 Matter 8 Hearing Agenda Tuesday 7th February 2pm
- HA 07 Matter 7 Hearing Agenda Tuesday 7th February 9.30am
January
30 January 2023
The following Local Plan Examination Hearing Agenda's are now available to view in the Examination Library:
26 January 2023
Document INS03b Draft Hearings Programme has now been updated to include the Council’s attendees for week 1.
25 January 2023
The following Local Plan Examination Hearing Agenda's are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- HA04 - Matter 4 The Housing Requirement Weds 1 Feb all day
- HA05 - Matter 5 Other Housing Requirements Thurs 2 Feb 9.30am
25 January 2023
The following Local Plan Examination Hearing Agenda's are now available to view in the Examination Library:
- HA01 - Matter 1 Procedural and Legal Requirement - Tuesday 31 January - 9.30am
- HA02 - Matter 2 The Duty to Co-operate - Tuesday 31 January - Morning
- HA03 - Matter 3 The Development Strategy - Tuesday 31 January - 2pm
20 January 2023
All information on the forthcoming live heairngs may be found here - Live Hearings Information
19 January 2023
INS03a Updated Hearings Program including participants is now available to view in the Examination Library.
10 January 2023
Document CD19a Habitats Regulations Assessment Appendix 2 – Air Quality Assessment, is now available to view in the Examination Library.
The Council refer to this item in their Matter 2 Hearing statement which will be available to view in due course.
November
30 November 2022
Note: Some representations did not upload correctly to the Local Plan Examination Library. Representations are under the subheading ‘Response Forms - Publication Draft’ and start with the letters ‘RF’. The amendments and additions may be found in document CBC03. Please be assured that the Inspector received all representations in full at the time of submission.
28 November 2022
Gypsies and Travellers - Further to the Inspectors question to the Council in document INS05 - Note to Council From Inspector SMith v SSLUHC 2022 EWCA Civ 1391, the Council's response to the Inspector may be viewed in document CBC02 (Council's response to INS05).
14 November 2022
Gypsies and Travellers - The Inspector has put a question to the Council, please see document INS05 - Note to Council From Inspector Smith v SSLUHC 2022 EWCA Civ 1391. The Council's response is required by 21st November and will be available to view in the Examination Library.
11 November 2022
Document CBC01, the Council’s response to INS01, the Inspectors Initial Questions to the Council, is now available to view in the local plan Examination Library.
11 November 2022
The Inspector has now released to the Council, examination guidance notes, a draft hearing Programme and the Inspectors matters, issues and questions.
The Inspector is inviting individuals who wish to participate in the Hearings to contact the Programme Officer. To qualify to participate, a representation must have been submitted to the Copeland Local Plan Regulation 19 published in January 2022 and subsequent Addendum, published July 2022
The same individuals are invited to submit hearing statements in response to the Inspectors Matters Issues and Questions.
Further instructions may be found in the following documents.
Key Documents in the Examination Library:
INS02 Examination Guidance Notes
INS03 Draft Hearings Programme
INS04 Inspectors Matters Issues and Questions
Key Dates
5pm Friday 9th December 2022 - Strict deadline to advise the Programme Officer if you wish to participate in the hearings. Please provide names and emails of all associates joining you at the hearings and details of which hearing session(s) you would like to take part in.
5pm Friday 23rd December 2022 – Strict deadline for the submission of Hearing Statements to the Programme Officer. 1 electronic version by email and 2 hardcopies delivered to the Council Offices. Please respond to each Matter separately and clearly label your statement to show the Matter and question you have responded to. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Tuesday, 08 November - The Inspector has written to the Council, please see document INS01 - Inspectors Note - Initial questions to the Council and has requested a response from the Council by 18 November 2022.
September
Tuesday, September 20 - Mrs.Caroline Mulloy BSc. (Hons) DipTP MRTPI has been appointed by the Secretary of State as the Inspector to conduct the examination into the Local Plan, to determine whether it is legally compliant and sound.
Friday, September 16 - The Copeland Local Plan 2021-2038, comprising the Publication Draft (January 2022) and Addendum (July 2022), was formally submitted to the Secretary of State
