Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Collingham and Shorting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: The Minutes from the Regeneration and Development Panel Meeting held on 13 July were agreed as a correct record.

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.

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.

Councillor Manning – RD37 – as a Member of the Custom Build Policy Development Task Group.

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.

Councillor Bubb – RD37: Terms of Reference – Custom Build Policy Development Task Group.

If any.

The Chairman explained that he had received correspondence from Mr Mike Barker, who had volunteered to attend a future meeting of the Panel to speak about trees and new developments.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Long commented that this could be an interesting issue for the Panel to investigate as in the future a Tree Planting Strategy could be something that the Borough Council could decide to introduce.  He suggested that after the relevant Panel meeting the Panel could look at possibly setting up an Informal Working Group to look at issues and make recommendations to the necessary bodies.

The Chairman informed those present that a sifting meeting would be held and the talk would be scheduled onto the Work Programme or an additional meeting would be scheduled if required.

As you are aware the Council has been keenly awaiting a decision on the proposal for a care home, housing with care facilities and 70 new homes in the countryside, on land off School Road, Heacham, following the Public Inquiry held in May. One of the reasons this decision is so important is because it deals with the issue of the 5 year supply of deliverable housing sites in detail, and therefore will form a basis for future housing decisions across the Borough, certainly in the short-mid-term.

The appeal was dismissed, and the Council was deemed to have in excess of a 5 year supply (5.81 years supply). This means that decisions taken with regards to housing proposals will rely on the local policies of the Development Plan, which are considered to be up to date. In other words the normal local policy situation has been confirmed and applies (this has been in place since 19 April 2016, and it was in place before August 2015).  

The Appeal Decision is attached.

The Panel was informed that the appeal decision had been received and the appeal was dismissed and the Council was deemed to have in excess of a five year supply.  He highlighted the following from the Appeal Decision Notice which had been circulated with the Agenda:

·         The Inspector had given significant weight to the Core Strategy and the Local Plan and stated that they were consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework.

·         In advance of the Inquiry the Cabinet had endorsed an assessment of need document and the Inspector had considered this to be a useful document.

·         The Inspector had calculated the five year supply using housing need, under delivery and backlog of sites figures and those that already had planning permission or were pending Section 106 agreements.

·         The Inspector felt that the allocations within the Site Allocations Plan had been rigorously scrutinised and he had acknowledged that the document was in its final stages so he had taken it into account when coming to his decision.

·         The LDF Manager referred to paragraph 44, the Inspector’s conclusion.

The Panel was informed that information had been published on the Borough Council’s website to explain that the Council is deemed to have a five year housing supply and the Council’s Policies could now be clearly referenced and relied upon as ‘up to date’.

The Portfolio Holder for Development, Councillor Blunt explained that the housing supply figures would now be a key performance indicator and ways of looking how the figure could be monitored were being investigated.

The LDF Manager responded to questions from the Panel.  He confirmed that no changes had been made to the Affordable Housing Policy.

The Panel discussed the benefits of Section 106 agreements and CIL and what money could be used for.

The Chairman thanked the LDF Manager for his update.

RESOLVED: The update was noted.

To receive a verbal update from the LDF Manager.

The LDF Manager explained that the CIL Draft Charging Schedule had been out for public consultation and 31 representations had been received.  The Draft Charging Schedule had subsequently been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for public examination.  The Panel was informed that the Examination would commence on 6 September 2016.

The LDF Manager explained that a Programme Officer had been appointed to assist the examiner in running the examination.  The Panel was informed that the Council was waiting to hear from the examiner on what issues he was likely to raise and any additional information he would require in advance of the public examination.

The Chairman thanked the LDF Manager for the update and invited questions and comments from the Panel. 

In response to questions, the LDF Manager explained that if the Council decided to amend the Charging Schedule at some point in the future, they would be required to go through the process again and a consultation exercise and public examination would be required.  He commented that it was anticipated that the scheme be reviewed every three years.

RESOLVED: The update was noted.

The LDF Manager presented the draft Terms of Reference for the Custom Build Policy Development Task Group.  The Panel was reminded that they had previously agreed to set up a five Member Task Group and Group Leaders had been invited to appoint Members to the Task Group.

The Portfolio Holder for Development, Councillor Blunt confirmed that the first meeting of the Task Group would be set up in due course.

RESOLVED: Members approved the Terms of Reference for the Custom Build Policy Development Task Group.

Members of the Panel were reminded that they could contact the Chairman at any time if they had items which they would like to be added to the Work Programme.

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30^th August 2016 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1EX.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel was scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30 August 2016 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite.