Fenland planning policies will gain full weight in decision making following the restoration of the district council’s five year housing land supply.

The latest assessment of the authority’s land supply shows it now stands at 5.86 years, up from 4.93 years in October last year when a planning inspector upheld an appeal for six dwellings in Christchurch.

Without being able to demonstrate the minimum five year supply of deliverable housing sites required by government, Fenland District Council had to default to guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) when determining planning applications.

Now that the benchmark has been restored, the council can revert back to area-specific policies within the Fenland Local Plan (FLP).

Since the Christchurch appeal, the Council can no longer seek affordable housing contributions on sites of 10 dwellings or less.

Councillor Dee Laws, Fenland District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Planning, said: “I’m very pleased that our five year land supply has been restored which is thanks to the hard work of Planning Officers and Committee Members to ensure that planning proposals that meet with relevant policies are approved”.