Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Alison Bennett substituted for Councillor Hatton.

Apologies were received from Councillors Clarke and Hatton.

None.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 January and 11 May 2022 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.  

None.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that they were reviewing the scope of the District Plan Review, the draft revised District Plan Strategy and the non-site-specific generic policies. The full suite of documents for consultation would be considered at the next meeting on 18 October. He reiterated the consequences of not having a District Plan and reminded the Committee of the appeal costs the Council incurred to defend planning appeals.  He outlined the work of the cross-party Members Working Group which was formed following the resolution passed at this Committees meeting in January 2022.  He commended the Working Group for their input during their four meetings in Summer, and also thanked their Chairman, Cllr Gary Marsh. 

Judy Holmes, Deputy Chief Executive introduced the report and reminded the Committee that at the meeting in January they asked officers to do more work on the policies and sites. The additional work included a brownfield study, detailed transport modelling ongoing work with neighbouring local authorities on unmet need, and work with site promoters to strengthen the evidence and support allocations – particularly in relation to infrastructure and site yield.  She highlighted the work of the Working Group and outlined the purpose of this meeting, noting the sites would be reviewed at the next meeting along with the full suite of consultation documents.   Attention was drawn to the recommendations, noting the new title of the Scrutiny Committee. She made clear that the proposed tracked changes to the policies were available online.  Subject to Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation on 18^th October, Council would be asked to approve the draft District Plan for Regulation 18 Consultation at its meeting on 2^nd November.

Robert Salisbury, Cabinet Member for Housing thanked the Deputy Chief Executive, officers and external partners for their work. He noted he supported a plan led approach, which would give the Council control over planning applications and the infrastructure to support it.  He advised that the Spatial Strategy was crucial to the plan. He thanked the Working Group for their input and advised he had attended the Working Group meetings with Cllr Ash-Edwards.

The Chairman advised the report was complex, and Members would be given the opportunity to comment on the Scope, Spatial Strategy, and the policies a section at a time.

The Members had no comments on the scope of the report or the Spatial Strategy. The Chairman led the Committee to consider each Chapter of the Plan in turn.

Sustainability:

A Member made a general comment on the wording used across the whole of the draft plan requesting the language was firmed up to provide more control over the policies and to place obligations on developers. 

Sally Blomfield, Assistant Director for Planning and Sustainable Economy advised the wording is led by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), some policies the Council can apply more force to and for some policies more flexibility is required.

Members expressed concern with the policies on carbon emissions and questioned the use of the Home Quality Mark  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Chairman reminded the Members of the importance of net zero targets.

Sally Blomfield, Assistant Director for Planning and Sustainable Economy introduced the report; and reminded Members that the Council agreed a Sustainable Economy Strategy and Action Plan in April 2022.  She noted that there are 7 in the strategy to achieve a reduction in carbon emission. One action is to create a net zero carbon programme and the commissioned work from Ricardo will inform the Council’s actions and officers have considered issues that would impact the deliverability of the targets.  She highlighted that the Council only has control of 2.6% of their own emissions and very little over the district wide emissions. The Council is reliant on national legislation and activities to achieve its net zero ambitions.  She noted the error in numbering the recommendations.

Cllr Stephen Hillier, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Net Zero noted his approval of the report before the committee and thanked the officers and consultants for their hard work.  He cautioned that the Council must be pragmatic as the emissions form Mid Sussex are just a small part of a global issue, but the United Kingdom should be leaders in achieving net zero.  The Council is reliant on the Government’s guidance to tackle emissions from energy production and transport, and emerging technology will play a major part. 

In response to a Member’s question, the Deputy Chief Executive noted that the Committee had been asked to agree to recommend to Council the 3 targets, as each target deals with a different aspect.

A Member thanked the officers for the comprehensive report and asked for clarification of the areas identified on the map on page 262.

The Assistant Director identified the waste treatment plant at Goddard’s Green; noting increased investment to convert waste products to energy, other areas denoted energy from solar.

Members discussed sustainable transport, the location of parking enforcement officers, the food waste trial and queried how the pilot would be judged. Concern was expressed on tree coverage, and the national statistics on population growth and housing targets set by Government.

The Deputy Chief Executive advised that the food waste pilot has a clear success criterion for evaluating the trail.  Updates on the trail will go to the scrutiny committee at various stages of the pilot. It was noted that it was too early in the trial to provide a useful update. She noted the Council’s good track record on recycling. For sustainable growth in the economy, population growth is important, and the number of houses do not directly correlate to the number of people in the District.  The Assistant Director noted that the use of electric vehicles by parking enforcement officers could be considered at the next stage of the project, a programme will be established on how the objectives will be met and she highlighted that there are 50 actions sitting within the Action Plan of the Sustainable Economy Strategy.  

In response to a query on licences for gas exploration, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council introduced the Committee’s Work Programme.  He noted that the site specific policies in the draft District Plan Review would be on the agenda for next meeting on 18 October, and the work programme would be updated as appropriate.

Cllr Brown requested to move a motion to include a report on the Water Infrastructure and Water Environment at the meeting on 18 January 2023. Kathryn Hall, Chief Executive advised it would be a significant piece of work and the officers would have to consider the resourcing implications if a report was to be produced by the meeting in January.  The Corporate Solicitor asked Cllr Brown to submit his request in writing so it could be considered.

RESOLVED

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

None.