Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mockford substituted for Councillor Anthony Watts Williams. Councillor Forbes substituted for Councillor Matthews.

Apologies were received from Councillor Watts Williams, Councillor Matthews and Councillor Barrett-Miles.

Councillor Jones and Councillor Lea declared an interest relating to the highways element of item 6 as they are Members of West Sussex County Council.

None.

The Minutes of the Committee held on 12 September and 25 September 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Lois Partridge, Business Unit Leader for Planning Policy and Economy introduced the report which sets out the proposed Site Selection Methodology, the latest step towards preparing the Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD), which will allocate sites to provide the residual housing requirement of approximately 2,500 homes. She highlighted the work that has led to the production of this Methodology, as set out on p.14 of the report and noted that Officers had consulted with the Site Allocations Working Group, the Mid Sussex Developer Liaison Group, neighbouring authorities and Town and Parish Councils who were all asked to submit comments. 11 responses were received and Appendix 2 sets out the comments made, and identifies where these have resulted in changes to the methodology.

Alice Henstock, Senior Planning Officer noted that the Methodology has two sets of criteria, one for housing and one for employment. These have been developed to establish the suitability, availability and deliverability of each site in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, (NPPF). There are 17 criteria for housing sites and 19 for employment sites. They have been graded with a traffic light system depending on the impact. The housing criteria are divided into three sections: Planning Constraints, Deliverability and Sustainability, and the employment sites are divided into Planning Constraints, Accessibility and Market Demand. The Planning Constraint criteria carry the most weight, then the Deliverability or Accessibility criteria, and then the Sustainability or Market Demand criteria. The Senior Planning Officer outlined the next steps required which will include the assessment of each site, working with the Site Allocations Working Group and seeking advice from external conservation, traffic, and air quality consultants, site promoters and Town and Parish Councils to ensure the assessment is robust and fully evidenced. Sites will then be ranked against each other to determine the ones to put forward.

A Member asked if the contentious issue of Strategic Road Access should be looked at in more detail and whether the employment criteria should be expanded to look at more than one class. The Business Unit Leader for Planning Policy and Economy noted that access is important but as there is no Government policy or evidence base for assessing this, the highest weighting had to be given to planning constraints, based on the NPPF.  Sally Blomfield, Divisional Leader for Planning and Economy acknowledged that employment covers more than just B Class but that for the Site Allocations DPD, only B1-B8 usage was being considered, as other types generally are located in Town Centres, such as retail use.

Regarding feedback provided by Brighton and Hove, a Member queried the response of ‘no further action’ set out in the summary of consultation responses, relating to the proposed negative impact associated with no response to queries about deliverability.  The Business Unit Leader for Planning Policy provided reassurance that there will be active follow-up with landowners and promoters, and the negative impact would only be applied if they consistently did not provide any information despite regular contact.

A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council introduced the report, noting that the air quality management area remains in force, as the NO2 levels at Stonepound Crossroads exceed the air quality objective of 40ug/m3. He confirmed that the table in Appendix A is missing information. The orange line relates to Lewes Road, East Grinstead, and the bottom blue line relates to South Road, Haywards Heath.

Discussion was held on whether the Council can do more to reduce pollution levels. It was noted that it is a complex issue as new evidence and guidance is continually provided on the health effects of various pollutants. The Council is following a holistic approach in line with the Governments clean air policy and has taken steps to implement changes in Mid Sussex, including introducing a new policy that states Taxi’s cannot be older than 10 years. The Licensing Committee will also be considering that Hackney Carriages should move to electric engines. From a planning perspective the Council is encouraging developers to include electric charging points and in the Northern Arc development, all properties will include a charging point.

A number of Members discussed locations where they felt further air quality monitoring was required. Nick Bennett, Senior Environmental Health Officer confirmed that the sites are regularly reviewed and that they need to be near relevant exposure to be considered for monitoring. He noted the suggestions of sites provided by the committee, to be taken forward at the next review. He also confirmed that traffic light sequencing was controlled by WSCC and he would provide contact details for Members who wish to make representation on sequencing issues.

A Member queried whether the proposal to make the A2300 a dual carriageway would increase or decrease pollution. The Senior Environmental Health Officer confirmed that although the amount of traffic on the road would increase, the overall outcome should be a reduction in pollution, particularly at the Stonepound crossroads as traffic will move more freely onto the A2300.

A suggestion was put forward that work is needed to address school drop-off congestion, with parking enforcement officers deployed. It was agreed that the Business Unit Leader for Parking would contact the Member directly to discuss.

A Member asked for a clearer set of deliverables to be included in the report. The Cabinet Member for Community confirmed he had an extensive list of deliverables which are included in the annual report on the website. He noted that there is a long term downward trend in pollutants even though traffic numbers are increasing, due to developments in technology. He also confirmed that an inter-authority air quality group has recently been set up which will meet three times per year to share best practice.

Members discussed the option of putting in place construction traffic management plans to resolve concerns at the Ham Fields Development, and the subject of planting tree replacements for every tree cut down on new construction sites. Planning conditions could be used to provide mitigation in the form of additional planting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council introduced the report, noting that the committee is asked to recommend the policy is considered for approval by Council. In response to a Member’s query, he agreed to look into whether any consultation has taken place with the Southern Landlords Association.

The policy was welcomed by Members. The Cabinet Member for Community confirmed that the Council will be active in enforcement were landlords provide unsatisfactory and unsafe housing. The Solicitor to the Council confirmed that more resources are expected to be put into Housing in the Environmental Health department to assist in the enforcement of the policy.

 The Chairman took Members to the recommendations as set out in the report, which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

The Committee:

Endorsed the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy contained in Appendix 1 and recommends it is considered for approval by Council.

Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council introduced the report and informed Members that an extra meeting of the Scrutiny Committee had been scheduled for 18 December 2018 to consider the use of the emergency runway at Gatwick Airport.

The Chairman took Members to the recommendation as set out in the report, which was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

The Committee noted the Work Programme as set out at paragraph 5 of the report.

None.