Issue - meetings

Councillor Walker introduced the report as Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee for Housing, Planning and Economic Growth. He highlighted the importance of the document in increasing the Council’s 5 year housing land supply and providing protection against unwanted development in the District. He also provided context, confirming that the document was developed at the request of the Planning Inspector following the examination of the District Plan. A politically and geographically balanced constitutional Working Group was set up to monitor the work, meeting 16 times in total and providing regular updates to the Scrutiny Committee for Housing, Planning and Economic Growth.  The report was seconded by Councillor MacNaughton.

A number of Members raised concerns regarding particular sites contained in the report, particularly SA12 and SA13, due to traffic impacts. Clarification was sought on what traffic assessment had been carried out. Concern was also raised around site SA24 due to potential involvement of the Secretary of State in active planning appeals. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Council had commissioned transport consultants to carry out transport assessments in the development of this document. These had included sites SA12 and SA13 and are considered to be the most up-to-date and sound assessments on which to base a decision to include the sites. Regarding SA24, he confirmed that decisions on appeals were beyond the control of this Council and that developers could address issues raised through new applications.

Members of the Working Group commended the Officers on the amount of diligent and factual work that has gone into preparing the document for consultation, and urged the Council to support the recommendations. It was noted that this was not the end of the process, as there would be two public consultations, followed by an examination in public by a Planning Inspector.

Some Members expressed concern regarding the decisions made by the Working Group at the most recent meeting held in August, noting that this meeting was held after the May 2019 election and did not seek to replace Members of the Group who were not re-elected. It was felt that this adversely affected the geographical and political balance of the group in the final stage of decision making. Discussion also concerned the number of sites being put forward.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that advice was sought from the Council’s QC regarding the Working Group. The advice was to proceed with the original Members for consistency. The Working Group was advisory only.  A full opportunity for detailed debate had been available at the Scrutiny Committee. He also confirmed that it was on advice from officers and the Scrutiny Committee were recommending option 2  as a prudent approach to ensure that there is a ‘buffer’ of sufficient sites to maintain the 5 year housing land supply should the Council encounter any issues with challenge or delivery of a particular site. To reduce the numbers would place the Council at risk of being unable to maintain a 5 year housing land supply.

A tabled amendment (published online) was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7