Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Planning and Infrastructure

The Planning Policy Team Leader presented the report to Members.

Councillors R Johnson and J Legrys wanted to see a breakdown in relation to developer contributions so Members could see what was going in, what was being spent and if anything was being returned to developers.  The Planning Policy Team Manager assured Members that officers were managing Section 106 monies better and agreed to provide further information outside of the meeting.

Councillor D Bigby raised concerns regarding the housing mix figures as he felt there were not enough two bedroom properties being provided.  The Planning Policy Team Manager explained that it was very difficult to refuse an application on the grounds of lack of mixed use.  However, he did understand the concerns and this data could be used to put pressure on developers if required.

It was moved by Councillor J Hoult, seconded by Councillor N Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

The content of the recently published Authority Monitoring Report 2018/19 be noted.

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Following the conclusion of the items on the agenda, the Chairman agreed to hold a discussion regarding the ongoing government consultation regarding Future Homes Standards and energy efficiencies.  The Planning Policy Team Manager informed Members that a link to the consultation would be circulated to Members for information and asked for any comments to be submitted as soon as possible so they could be included in the Council’s response.

Councillor J Legrys thanked the Chairman for the recently held meeting with officers on the matter and for opening up the consultation to the Committee.

Councillor D Bigby commented on the importance of these types of government consultations and that they ought to be brought to Committee automatically without being raised by Members.  The Planning Policy Team Manager assured Members that a response would have been supplied to the consultation but it would have been completed by the Building Control Team.  He was pleased that it had been raised as it was also relevant to Planning.

The Chairman confirmed that these types of consultations were directed to the Building Control Team and he was pleased that officers were now looking at opening them up to more teams and Members.