PINS Frontloading Project

The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) provide a "critical friend " service to Local Planning Authorities working on their Local Development Frameworks and in particular their Core Strategies. Their objective is to advise and guide Local Authorities to produce their Core Strategies and other documents in a way that is engaging with communities, comprehensively evidenced and in all respects undertaken in a sound way that will prove acceptable to the Inspectorate and result in a smooth and uninterrupted process to Plan adoption.

To be found sound and acceptable the Core Strategy should be clearly "justified, effective and consistent with national policies" and these criteria guide the critical friend in commenting on the approach taken

South Somerset were visited by our critical friend in November and the resultant  PINS Inspector's Note was received on 4 December 2009. This report has identified a number of actions that the Council should consider and these are all being actively pursued.