Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The notes of the meeting held on 13 February 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

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 Members 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 no urgent business.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.

Councillor A Ryves for all items.

The Chair advised that he had held a sifting meeting with officers to identify the items for today’s agenda.

The Task Group will receive an update on the items set out below:

·                  The Borough Council’s Homelessness Strategy

•           Older People/Housing with Care

•           Accessible and Adaptable Homes

•           Gypsy and Travellers

The Task Group received a presentation on Homelessness and Housing Supply from the Assistant Director, Regeneration, Housing and Place (copy attached).

The Chair and Officers responded to questions from the Task Group in relation to:

·        Care needs and provision in the county.

·        Definition of housing with care and mix of tenure required for different levels of care would be included within the detailed policy.

·        Social housing.

·        Affordable housing supply and link with homelessness.

·        Overview of work being undertaken by the Borough Council’s Homelessness and Housing Delivery Task Group.

·        Market towns.

·        The need for rural communities and appropriate support.

·        Shared ownership schemes.

·        Need for rented accommodation and provision of support.

·        Sheltered housing accommodation.

·        Options for provision of temporary accommodation.

·        Private rented accommodation and level of rent.

·        Affordable rented accommodation.

·        Affordable market housing.

·        Current house builders in the Borough.

·        Borough Council developments and potential energy efficient investments within budget, for example, solar panels.

·        Exceptions sites.

·        Development outside the development boundary.

·        Communities within the development boundary.

·        Potential development on Brownfield sites.

·        Five year land supply.

·        NPPF policies – it was noted that a link to the NPPF relating to build the definition of affordable homes, entry level exception sites and exception sites would be forwarded to the Task Group.

The Chair informed Members that the James Wild, MP had received a briefing on affordable housing and homelessness.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director, Regeneration, Housing and Place for an interesting and informative presentation and invited him to attend a future Task Group meeting when required.

The Task Group received a presentation from D Robson, Environmental Health Manager (copy attached).  The Environmental Health Manager explained that he had held discussions with the Planning Policy Team when it had been identified that the items listed below could be included in the Local Plan.

·        Renewable Energy & Building Standards.

·        Transport.

·        Tree Planting/Green Habitat.

The Environmental Health Manager and Principal Planner (Policy) responded to questions in relation to:

·        Potential sources of renewable energy which could be encouraged for new builds, for example, solar water heating, solar panels, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, biomass boilers (for commercial purposes).

·        Cost of renewable energy source to new builds.

·        Affordability of houses with renewable energy source.

·        Borough Council’s approach to climate change.

·        Green tariff for renewable electricity.

·        Potential for the Borough Council to include a % of renewable energy required for new builds within the Local Plan.

·        Design of new builds should allow space for air source pump/battery.  Reference was made to the national design guide.  It was explained that when a planning application was received the Borough council would set out what the developer was required to do to meet the policies.

·        Advantages and benefits of installation of solar panels.

·        The ‘Merton’ Rule – it was explained that this was a prescriptive planning policy that required new developments to generate at least 10% of their energy needs from on-site renewable energy equipment.

·        Potential for solar or wind farm allocation in the Local Plan.

·        Government consultation in 2019 on Building Regulations which set out 3 options.  No response had been received to date.

·        Active and green transport – cycling, walking, car share, catching the bus.

·        Community Infrastructure Levy – applications could be made for provision of or improvements to a cycle path.

·        Air Quality Action Plan.

·        DM17 required 1 secure cycle space for each new build – was this considered to be sufficient space?

·        King’s Lynn Transport Strategy – recommendation could be to expand the current existing cycle provision.

·        Adequate provision of cycle paths to be considered when planning permission for new large scale developments.

·        Sustainable travel assessment.

·        Consider of Park and Bike scheme.

·        The Lewes Rule – ‘Applications for development should be designed to enable charging of plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles in safe, accessible and convenient locations Planning policies and decisions should sustain and contribute towards compliance with relevant limit values or national objectives for pollutants, taking into account the presence of Air Quality.’

·        Potential to encourage a 30 amp cabling to be installed in property for future use.

·        Electric vehicle charging points.

·        Habitats Regulation Levy potential to increase current £50 fee.

·        Provision of open space/identify specific area of land for tree planting.

·        Potential policy requiring every household to plant a tree.

The Task Group took a comfort break at 1.28 pm and reconvened at 1.35 pm.

The Task Group received a presentation (copy attached) from the Principal Planner (Policy).

The Chair informed Members that he had held a meeting with the Executive Director and the Assistant Director, Companies and Housing Delivery to discuss how to take the project forward in the next five years.

The Principal Planner (Policy) responded to questions relating to:

·        Completions per annum.

·        Action taken to address reasons why sites had not been delivered.  It was noted that an email and questionnaire was sent to each landowner.

·        Sites in multiple ownership.

·        Sustainable development.

·        Need for affordable housing.

·        Planning permissions – some referred to the Planning Committee and others dealt with by delegated powers.

·        Improvements to infrastructure to attract investment into the Borough to demonstrate it is a good place to live.

The following items were identified for a future Task Group Meeting:

·        Accessible and Adaptable Homes.

·        Update on Gypsies and Travellers.

The next meeting of the Task Group will take place on Wednesday 1 April 2020 at 11.15 am in the Kempe Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Task Group will be held on Wednesday 1 April 2020 at 11.15 am in the Kempe Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place.