Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs J Collingham, N Daubney, B Long, J Moriarty and A Tyler.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: The minutes from the meeting held on Wednesday 22^nd July 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an 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.

Those 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.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

There was none.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on 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.

If any.

There was none.

To receive comments and recommendations from other Council bodies, and any responses subsequent to recommendations, which the Panel has previously made.

At the Cabinet meeting on 28 July 2015, the following responses were made to the recommendations from the Panel on the 22 July 2015, on the following items:

Cabinet Report – Hunstanton Heritage Gardens – Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People Application

PANEL RECOMMENDED: That the Regeneration, Environment and Community Panel supported the recommendations to Cabinet as set out in the report.

CABINET RESPONSE: The comments of the Panel were taken into consideration when Cabinet considered the item.

The Panel noted the response made by Cabinet to the recommendations from the Joint Panel Meeting on 22 July 2015 in respect of the following item:

·         Hunstanton Heritage Gardens – Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People Application.

Tim Venes from the Norfolk Coast Partnership will provide an update to the Panels.

Tim Venes from the Norfolk Coast Partnership provided the Panels with an update on the work of the Norfolk Coast Partnership.  He explained that the purpose of the Partnership was to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Norfolk Coast.

The Partnership was made up of organisations all working together to manage the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).  The Partnership included Local Authorities, Statutory Agencies, Landowners and the local community.  The Panel was provided with an overview of the Partnership’s funding arrangements.

Tim Venes informed those present that the Borough Council had a statutory duty to produce an AONB Management plan and review it in conjunction with other local authorities.  The Norfolk Coast Partnership carried out this function on behalf of the relevant Local Authorities and reviewed the plan every five years.  The Norfolk Coast Partnership also provided information and advice and assisted with generating funding.

The Panel was informed that the Norfolk Coast Partnership had been successful in awarding funding to community based projects.  £430,000 had been distributed to local groups over the past ten years.  The Norfolk Coast Partnership had also secured funding to run the Nine Chalk Rivers Project for AONB river catchment restoration.

More information on the work of the Partnership was available at www.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk.

The Chairman thanked Tim Venes for the presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Mrs Watson referred to the England Coastal Path and asked if this was the responsibility of the Norfolk Coast Partnership.  Tim Venes explained that a coastal path would be created all the way round England which would include some existing paths and the creation of some new coastal paths.  Natural England was managing the project and Norfolk County Council would be responsible for maintaining the footpaths in their area.

The Chairman asked if there was a map available of all the footpaths in the area.  Tim Venes explained that Norfolk County Council should have details of all footpaths which had been adopted, but offer to assist the Chairman if required.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

The above report is on the Cabinet Forward Decision List for 9 September

2015 and has been identified by the Chairman for consideration by the Panel.

The Panel are requested to consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

The Regeneration and Economic Development Manager presented the Cabinet report which outlined the key elements of Enterprise Zone status and provided information on the proposals to be put forward.  He explained that Enterprise Zones were built on two principles:

·         That the Government believed that the Private Sector was the generator of wealth.

·         That in order to achieve growth the Government should offer incentives to the private sector.

An Enterprise Zone was a designated area of land which had with it a package of incentives for business occupiers.  In terms of financial incentives, the business occupiers would not have to pay Business Rates for a period of five years.  In terms of planning incentives a Local Development Order could be established which would cover the area and could allow for automatic planning permission to be granted if it met development requirements.  Local Enterprise Partnerships would retain the business rates for 25 years.

The Regeneration and Economic Development Manager informed those present that the first wave of Enterprise Zones had been announced by Government in 2011 and 21 had been established across England.  The second wave of Enterprise Zones had been announced in July 2015.  The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had subsequently invited applications for Enterprise Zone Status to be put forward to Government. 

The New Anglia LEP invitation had stated that the site proposals should be sector focussed.  The New Anglia LEP had recognised that it could be unfair to retain Business Rates for 25 years so had come up with a Business Rates sharing formula as follows:

-       10% would go to the Local Authority.

-       35% would be ring-fenced for further development in the Enterprise Zone area

-       55% would be paid to the LEP for future development projects.

The Panel was provided with details of the NORA site and the proposed area to be put forward for Enterprise Zone status.  It was anticipated that this area would create 48,000 square metres of employment space for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering.  Up to 2,200 new jobs could be available as calculated by the Government Employment Density Guidance formula.

The Regeneration and Economic Development Manager referred the Panel to the options considered as set out in the report.  He highlighted the benefits of developing the NORA land with Enterprise Zone status, which included, accelerated development, which could result in the creation of jobs and further investment, ring-fenced funding from the LEP which would be reinvested in the area from Business Rates and prioritised enhanced marketing by UK Trade and Investment and New Anglia LEP.

The Panel was informed that the Borough Council was only made aware of the opportunity to put forward a site for Enterprise Zone status six weeks’ ago so had put together the proposals within a short timescale.  The Regeneration and Economic Development Manager reminded those present that the proposals were still subject to Cabinet and Council approval, although the Regeneration and Economic Development Manager had worked closely with the Leader of the Council and other  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD&EC49

The above report is on the Cabinet Forward Decision List for 9 September

2015 and has been identified by the Chairman for consideration by the Panel.

The Panel are requested to consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

The Executive Director, Development Services presented the Cabinet report and explained that the Localism Act 2011 had introduced the provision for Neighbourhood Plans to be created.  The intention of this was to engage local communities in the planning process and give them ownership and control over development in their area.

South Wootton and Brancaster had embraced the opportunity to create a Parish Plan.  South Wootton had anticipated significant growth going forward and therefore wanted to shape how development took place.

The Executive Director, Development Services provided brief details of the Government’s process for creating neighbourhood plans, there were lots of steps and processes to be gone through, which were out of the Council’s control.  The Council had worked with the Parishes to develop their plans.

The Executive Director, Development Services commended both the Parish Council’s and the officers involved in bringing the Parish Plans to this stage as there had been a lot of work involved.

The Panel was referred to the recommendations within the report which set out how the Parish Plan process could move forward.  The recommendations had regard to the recommendations made by the Independent Examiner and the report set out the proposed modifications to the plans before they moved to the referendum stage.  The Executive Director, Development Services informed those present that if adopted the Parish Plans would have the same status as the Local Plan, the Parishes would also receive a greater proportion of any Community Infrastructure levy if they had a plan in place.

The Chairman thanked the Executive Director, Development Services for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Mrs Watson referred to Brancaster Parish Plan and informed the Executive Director that the Parish Council would be discussing the proposed modifications to the Parish Plan at their next meeting.  She asked for clarification on when a referendum was likely.  The Principal Planner (LDF) explained that, if the recommendations were agreed by Cabinet, a consultation exercise on the modifications would then be required.  If the consultation exercise resulted in no further amendments it was likely that a referendum would be held mid to late November 2015.

Councillor Mrs Wright commented that she was impressed with South Wootton Parish Council’s ideas as contained within their plan.  She asked how it would be ensured that developers would be considerate of the plan when submitting planning applications to ensure that South Wootton’s vision was achieved.  The Principal Planner (LDF) explained that the Parish Plan would form part of the overall development plan and would become the starting place for decisions on applications.  The Planning Committee would need to take the Parish Plans into account when determining planning applications.  Developers would need to consider their plan when shaping their proposals and the Plans would influence the type of development acceptable in the area.

Councillor Smith referred to page 25 of the agenda and asked if the Independent Examiner had considered the area beyond the Parish Plan boundary.  The Principal planner LDF  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD&EC50

The above report is on the Cabinet Forward Decision List for 9 September

2015 and has been identified by the Chairman for consideration by the Panel.

The Panel are requested to consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

The Executive Director, Development Services presented the Cabinet report and provided a broad overview of its content.  He explained that the report set out the Council’s response to the Inspectors questions which had been raised on the opening day of the Examination.  On the first morning of the Examination the Inspector had looked at the technical aspects of the plan and checked that it met certain criteria.  The Executive Director explained that the Council had to provide a Habitat Regulations Assessment which detailed how the Council would regulate the impact of growth on designation sites and mitigation requirements.

The Executive Director explained that throughout the process of creating the Habitat Regulation Assessment lots of meetings had been held with relevant organisations to determine the way forward to mitigate the impact of growth on designation sites.  On the first day of the Examination one of the relevant organisations which had been involved in the process had expressed a concern regarding the mitigation strategy and how money would be raised to protect designated sites.  The Inspector had therefore raised concern that the issue had not been addressed in enough detail so he had adjourned the Examination so that the Council could formulate a response.

Once the Examination had been adjourned the Council had asked the Inspector for information on any other issues which he was likely to raise, so that they could be addressed before the Examination reconvened.  The Inspector also raised issues in relation to flood risk, the flexibility and delivery of sites and the plan review process.  The Cabinet report set out the Council’s response to the issues raised by the Inspector.

The Chairman thanked the Executive Director, Development Services for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panels, as summarised below.

Councillor Crofts referred to the affordable housing threshold and explained that he had recalled that a recent Cabinet report had changed the threshold to ten, however, the report stated that the threshold was five.  He asked if Parish Councils would be made aware of the change to the affordable housing threshold.  The Executive Director, Development Services explained that the Government had introduced the change in February 2015 and subsequently a report had been presented to Cabinet outlining the changes.  Following the introduction of the legislation several Councils had taken the matter to a Judicial Review as they felt there was no evidence to support the change, it was irrational and the Government had not conducted an adequate equality impact assessment.  Subsequently the policy was thrown out, Planning Policy Guidance changed and the threshold withdrawn.  The Government were not intending to challenge the courts and the Council had no choice but to go back to their previous position.

Councillor Crofts requested, and the Panel agreed, that Parish Council’s be informed of the position in relation to affordable housing and the Executive Director agreed to send out a briefing note.

The Vice Chairman, Councillor Mrs Bambridge referred to the habitat mitigation levy which had been set at £50  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD&EC51

To consider the attached Work Programme for 2015/2016.

In considering the draft Work Programme Members’ attention is drawn to the Cabinet Forward Decisions List.

The Chairman invited Members of the Panel to contact her if they had any items which they would like to add to the work programme.

RESOLVED: The work programme and forward decision list was noted.

To note that the next Joint meeting of the Regeneration & Development and Environment & Community Panel is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 30 September 2015 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development & Environment and Community Panel was scheduled to take place on Wednesday 30 September 2015 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1EX.