Publication Plan April 2024
Part F: Monitoring
15. Monitoring the plan
(3) 15.1 Having set out a clear direction for how the district will develop over the next 15 years, after the Local Plan is adopted, it is important that the implementation of policies is monitored to ensure they remain applicable and practical over time. Furthermore, the planning system continues to place great importance on the process of monitoring Local Plan performance in order to identify a need for plan review. Therefore, the council will measure this plan performance each year through the monitoring framework and the identified targets therein, by monitoring planning applications to assess the delivery of the Local Plan.
15.2 The main mechanism for reporting this will be via the Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) published annually. The council will prepare this which will contain an assessment of progress against identified milestones, the extent to which objectives are being achieved, and targets are being met. Appendix J identifies a range of monitoring requirements, targets and objectives linked to the Local Plan policies. These assessments, through the AMR, will test the delivery and performance of the Local Plan and supporting documents. As such, the Monitoring Framework will play an integral role in providing an understanding of whether a review of the plan is needed. Should the monitoring data indicate that objectives or targets are not being met, policies are not performing as intended, or circumstances have changed locally and/or nationally, this may give rise to a review of the local plan either in part or in full. To facilitate this, it is considered that the best approach is to use the Strategic Objectives as a structure, and – where it is appropriate – monitor the strategic policies within those to provide a more granular basis of measurement.
15.3 The Monitoring Framework has been appended to the Local Plan to reflect the fact it is a 'living document'. Many of the Local Plan policies will require assessment over time to understand appropriate trends and impacts on development. This reflects the changing nature of planning policy, and the increasing need to consider the impacts of climate change and sustainable development in particular. Therefore, the Monitoring Framework will be regularly reviewed and kept up to date through the AMR process. At this moment in time, the framework contains a series of performance indicators that are reflective, and will measure the success of, the strategic objectives and the effectiveness of policies in the Local Plan. This will form the basis of the AMR in future. It is also recognised that the assistance of various implementation agencies and partner organisations that will be involved in implementing the policies and the proposals in the plan will be important in collecting data and measuring performance.
