Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: Councillor Crofts was appointed Vice-Chairman for the Meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Peake.

To agree the notes of the previous meeting held on ….

RESOLVED: The notes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising.

There was none.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There was none.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

There was none.

The LDF Manager explained that the HELAA review was conducted on a regular basis and was important because the land identified through the HELAA was land that could potentially be available for development.  It was a technical assessment and if land could be developed it could be counted as background numbers for the land supply and local plan.  The process for HELAA was similar to the local plan process in that land owners were invited to put forward sites for development.

Local Authorities across Norfolk were currently engaging to prepare a Strategic Planning Framework which would assist in understanding the develop need across the County and it used HELAA as its evidence base.  HELAA was overseen by the Duty to Cooperate Group.

The LDF Manager explained that Government methodology was used to determine which sites were included.  A consultation exercise was to be also carried out on the soundness of the methodology used; this would be followed by communication with land owners and developers to ask for sites to be brought forward.  Sites included in the HELAA were not guaranteed to be taken forward for development.

Councillor Crofts referred to the consultation period which was only four weeks and the LDF Manager explained that he hoped that responses about the methodology would be forthcoming.  The subsequent ‘call for sites’ would be longer.

The LDF Manager explained that if a site had been allocated, but was yet to be developed or put in Planning Application, the allocation could be suggested for an increase if the developers felt that it would be appropriate.

RESOLVED: The Chairman requested that the LDF Task Group be presented with the consultation response, the list of the sites to be included in the Plan and officers analysis of the sites put forward.

a)    Breckland Preferred Directions Consultation.

b)    South East Lincs Local Plan Consultation.

The LDF Manager informed the Task Group that the Borough Council had been invited to make representations on two neighbouring Local Authorities Local Plans under the Duty to Cooperate.

The LDF Manager presented a summary of Breckland and South East Lincolnshire’s Local Plans as included within the agenda.  The Task Group was provided with a summary of the policy, the potential impact for the Borough and the Borough’s suggested response to the consultation.

The LDF Manager referred to proposals for Wisbech Garden Town, which would have a cross boundary impact with West Norfolk.  He explained that officers were now looking at bringing the allocation forward in conjunction with Fenland District Council.

Councillor Crofts asked what procedures and policies were in place for dealing with cross boundary Planning Applications and the Principal Planner agreed to report back to the Task Group.

Councillor Mrs Buck asked if there was a national policy for dealing with development on flood zones.  The Principal Planner referred to South East Lincolnshire Local Plan, Policy 4 which referred to the Strategic approach to flood risk in that locality. 

The Task Group discussed other cross boundary issues such as the provision of services to development sites and education impact.  The LDF Manager explained that Norfolk County Council as the Education lead would be offered the opportunity to comment on the Local Plans.

The LDF Manager informed the Task Group that every year a pupil forecast was carried out by Norfolk County Council and was based on the amount of new housing units and allocations up to 2026 to determine potential pupil numbers.

RESOLVED: (i) The Task Group supported the suggested response to the Local Plan consultations for Breckland and South East Lincolnshire.

(ii) The Principal Planner to report back to the Task Group on policies and procedures for dealing with cross boundary Planning Applications.

The Task Group will receive a verbal update.

The Principal Planner provided an update on Neighbourhood Plans.  She explained that Downham Market’s Neighbourhood area had now been designated and work would commence on their plan.

Representatives from the LDF Team had met with, or were to meet with, several Parish Councils including Castle Acre, Holme, Thornham, Tilney All Saints, Tilney St Lawrence and Upwell.

A Gaywood Valley Neighbourhood Plan was being investigated.  A designated area would be required along with a Forum of representatives to take the Plan forward as the area was unparished.

The Task Group discussed the possibility of some Parishes joining together to create a plan.  Councillor Ayres commented that Tilney St Lawrence and Terrington St John were investigating the possibility.

Councillor Mrs Watson asked if small hamlets and villages which did not have a Parish Council could take forward a Neighbourhood Plan.  The Principal Planner explained that if they did want to they would need a designated area and a forum to take forward the plan, or they could look at linking with neighbouring Parish Councils.  She explained that development would be limited in small villages and hamlets, therefore the benefits of a Neighbourhood plan such as CIL would be less. 

Councillor Moriarty commented that officers had attended a meeting at Castle Acre and that they did an excellent presentation.  He asked that officers ensure communication is maintained with the Planning Committee and officers attending Parish Council meetings and referred to a recent application considered by the Planning Committee for Brancaster.  The LDF Manager explained that officers did engage with Parish Councils, some relied on officers for support whereas other Parish Councils were confident to take forward their own plan with little assistant from the Borough Council officers.  Officers were available to assist with terminology and the wording of policies.  The LDF Manager explained that there was a revision process in place should Neighbourhood Plans require amendments.

RESOLVED: The Principal Planner to keep the Task Group updated on progress.

The LDF Manager informed the Task Group that he had recently attended a meeting of the HRA Monitoring and Mitigation and Green Infrastructure Coordinating Panel and referred to the minutes of the meeting which had been included with the agenda.

The LDF Manager reminded the Task Group that the Inspectorate had asked for further work to be carried out to Habitat Regulations and protection of European Designated Sites.  Cabinet and Council had subsequently agreed, following comments made by the Inspector, to set up a group to draw together organisations concerned with the protection of European Designated Sites and look at the impact of new development.

The HRA Group were looking at the existing pressures on European Designated Sites and how they coped with visitor pressure.  The group needed to identify what additional pressure would be as a result of additional development.  Through the Duty to Cooperate Forum a study was being carried out on the implications of new growth on European Designated Sites across the County and was likely to report in June.  The study would assist in how contributions were spent and the results would be presented to the LDF Task Group.

In response to a question, the LDF Manager explained that it was unlikely that this work would have been required and the £50 charge added, had the issue not been raised by the Inspector during the examination.  The LDF Manager explained that the process would be monitored and a report would be brought back to Cabinet should amendments to the process be required.

RESOLVED: The next meeting of the Panel would take place in April and the LDF Manager agreed to keep the Task Group updated on progress.

a)    Cabinet Report.

b)    Main Modifications.

c)    Minor Modifications.

The Chairman reminded those present that they had looked at draft modifications at the previous meeting, the document included with the agenda now provided more detail on the Main and Minor modifications.

The Principal Planner explained that the Inspector had sent his preliminary findings though and a list of things he expected to be amended in the plan, which formed the modification schedule.  The Inspector’s results had been made available on the Borough Council’s website.

A table of the Main and Minor modifications was set out in the agenda.  The Principal Planner informed the Task Group that the Modifications would be presented to a joint meeting of the Regeneration & Development and Environment & Community Panel on 24^th February, Cabinet on 1^st March and Council on 24^th March 2016.

The Task Group was informed that the Main Modifications typically referred to changes in policies and policy wording, and the Minor Modifications more likely referred to typos and explanations. 

The LDF Manager explained that the Main Modifications would be advertised and members of the public would be invited to comment.  The Inspector would then consider all comments received.

The Principal Planner explained that Planning Control would have regard to the Modifications once they had been agreed by Council.  She referred to one of the Main changes requested by the Inspector in that all allocations should have ‘at least’ in front of the number of dwellings in the allocation.  Councillor Crofts highlighted that page 82 had not had ‘at least’ added.  The Principal Planner agreed to double check the plan and amend as required.  She explained that the only exception to ‘at least’ was Hunstanton Policy F2.3 because of the different nature of the site, which was housing with care.

Councillor Crofts referred to a previous Government consultation relating to affordable housing contributions and that small developers did not have to make a financial contribution until after development had finished.  The LDF Manager explained that this had been proposed to assist small developers who often could not afford to make the contribution upfront.  The LDF Manager reminded the Task Group that the Government had introduced new rules relating to affordable housing and then subsequently withdrawn them.  He agreed to check the current arrangements for small developer contributions and report back to the Task Group.

Councillor Moriarty referred to page 44 of the agenda which related to development in smaller villages and hamlets in exceptional circumstances.  The LDF Manager explained that exceptional circumstances could include a change of use of land, or taking away land from employment use.  The LDF Manager clarified that the changes to the policy were the underlined or strikethrough sections.  In response to a further question from Councillor Moriarty, the LDF Manager explained that an application for development in small villages and hamlets would be assessed on its own merit and infill development would depend on the scale and character and would be a matter for consideration when determining planning applications.

Councillor Moriarty referred to page 133 of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To note that the next scheduled meeting of the LDF Task Group will be held on Wednesday 9 March 2016 at 10 am in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Task Group would take place on Wednesday 9 March 2016 at 10.00 am in the Miles Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place.