Issue - meetings

The report of the Principal Planning Policy Officer.

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report.

In response to a question from members relating to site apportionment in North West Leicestershire, the Principal Planning Policy Officer commented that, in the event the apportionment of 44% was not met, conversations would be had with other authorities to find a resolution to the shortfall as part of the Local Plan examination. It was added by the Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager that there was a limited number of available sites, and that significant provisions were underway to ensure that as much of the requirement would be met as possible.

Members commented that site EMP97 did not go through a Regulation 18 consultation and therefore did not get full scrutiny from local residents, highlighting the large size of the site and struggling traffic in the area.

Members expressed concern that the Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan could be finalised without further consultation on a few sites, and it was asked whether the matter of consultation could be discussed at the next meeting. The Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager advised that, due to Local Plan time limitations and as the next meeting was scheduled for January, it would be better to raise any concerns with the report during this meeting.

A discussion was had about site EMP97. Members raised concerns about the adequacy of transport modelling work, especially for Junction 24 of the M1 and Junction 11 of the M42, and the need for infrastructure upgrades. It was stated that Junctions 13 and 14 on the M42 were already suffering from over-capacity, and that additional allocations could cause this to escalate.

The Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager advised that the transport modelling work had been revisited to incorporate updated assumptions as set out in the report. It was added that previous estimates of the future need for strategic distribution for North West Leicestershire were significantly lower (requiring a step back in the modelling process), and that the revised modelling will take into account all known developments across the wider area but will exclude proposals such as the Norton Juxta new settlement recently proposed in the Hinckley & Bosworth Local Plan (Reg 18) , as these are not sufficiently advanced.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer recommended that as many sites as possible should be identified as part of the Local Plan to minimise a shortfall, and that taking site EMP97 out at this stage would undermine the integrity of the Local Plan. It was added that the decisions made at this meeting were subject to transport modelling work.

It was announced by the Chair that, due to the points raised during discussion, recommendations 4 and 5 would be moved separately.

Recommendation 4 was moved by Councillor R Morris, seconded by Councillor M Ball and

RESOLVED THAT:

4)     The inclusion of land south of Kegworth Bypass (EMP97) as a strategic warehousing site in the Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan, be agreed in principle.

Recommendation 5 was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13