Minutes:
Members discussed the emerging County Durham Plan and sought clarification with regard to the weight that could be given to it in the determination of planning applications.
The Legal Officer advised that the Council was currently consulting on the pre-submission draft and it may be appropriate to attach some weight to the emerging Plan in certain circumstances. However until fully implemented the starting point for consideration of planning applications should be the relevant policies in Local Plans where they accorded with the aims of the NPPF.