§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether there is a structure plan for Lincolnshire; and what the status is of the draft Lincolnshire structure plan. [34974]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Lincolnshire structure plan was approved in 1981. Policies on population, housing, settlement, employment and shopping have been amended and the plan period extended to 2000 through Structure Plan Alterations Nos. 1 and 2 in 1991 and 1994.
Lincolnshire county council published a revised Deposit structure plan in January 1998 and progressed through to the adoption phase in December 2000. However, the Secretary of State directed the county council not to adopt the structure plan until he had decided how to proceed following the council's refusal to comply with his direction to modify Policy 4 on Accessibility to include reference to reducing the need to travel in particular by private car to bring the policy into line with national planning policy in PPG13 Transport.
The Secretary of State is currently considering whether to withdraw the direction to modify and allow the council to adopt the structure plan. In the interim the uncontested policies and proposals in the emerging structure plan have considerable weight in the consideration of planning matters in the county.