Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the ensuing municipal year.

The Director of Services opened the meeting and sought nominations to elect a Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year.

It was moved by Councillor A V Smith, seconded by Councillor C Large and

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor J Bridges be elected Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year.

Councillor J Bridges took the chair and advised everyone present that this was a cross-party Committee and Members would work together to deliver a sound Core Strategy for the area.

To receive and note any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R D Bayliss and D De Lacy.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

Councillor J Legrys sought clarification on declaring interests as the Committee would be looking at the whole of the District.  In particular he requested advice as most Members owned their own properties.

The Legal Advisor clarified that when matters were considered in broader terms, and Members were equally as affected as everyone else in the area, there was no requirement to declare a pecuniary interest on that basis.  He referred to the setting of the Council Tax as an example.

Councillor J Bridges encouraged Members to seek advice on interests in advance of the meeting.

There were no interests declared.

Terms of Reference attached.

The Director of Services referred Members to the Terms of Reference of the Committee which were attached for information.  He stated that he intended to attach the Terms of Reference to the agenda for each meeting to ensure Members remained focussed on the role of the Committee.

Councillor J Bridges encouraged Members to seek advice if there was anything they felt should be incorporated into the Terms of Reference.

Councillor J Legrys stated that as the process evolved, the Terms of Reference would need to be reviewed.  He welcomed the idea that the Terms of Reference would be included in each agenda.

Presentation by Malcolm Sharp and Simon Stanion.

Mr M Sharp introduced himself to the Committee and explained that his role as a consultant was to advise the Council on the Local Plan process.  He added that he was delighted to be able to assist the Council.

Mr M Sharp gave a presentation to Members outlining the changes to the planning framework, the current position locally and the progress of the review to date.

Councillor S Sheahan asked how the duty to co-operate would work in practice. 

The Director of Services advised that a Housing Planning and Infrastructure Group had been established for Leicestershire at officer level.  He explained that this would feed into the Members Advisory Group, where it was intended that discussions around strategy and housing requirements would take place.  He added that this structure was intended to demonstrate that the duty to co-operate had been fulfilled.

Councillor S Sheahan requested that the minutes of the Housing Planning and Infrastructure Group and the Members Advisory Group be made available to the Committee.

Councillor J Legrys welcomed the recommendation in respect of viability work.  He sought clarification on the mechanism for this and expressed concerns regarding the availability of resources to undertake this work as he recognised the amount of detail required. 

Mr M Sharp advised that the expertise required was not necessarily something the Council would already have in-house.  He explained that there was established methodology and experts who could be called upon to undertake the work.  He added that Councils across the country were taking this approach so he was confident that the work could be undertaken within a reasonable budget.

Councillor J Legrys referred to the duty to co-operate with all neighbouring authorities, including those in Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire. 

Mr M Sharp confirmed that conversations with all neighbouring authorities would need to take place.  He explained that the Housing Planning and Infrastructure Group was based on the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) area, which was accepted as being the Leicestershire area.

Mr M Sharp advised that the guidance made reference to Local Plan preparation and suggested that Members read this section.

Report of the Director of Services.

The Director of Services presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the recommendations as set out in the report, which sought a decision from the Committee on whether a new Local Plan should be produced and what the plan period should be.  He advised that a decision from the Committee would take the form of a recommendation to Council.  He also referred Members to the appendix to the report which set out some initial thoughts on the structure of the Local Plan and the policies that would be unique to North West Leicestershire and not contained elsewhere. 

The Director of Services referred to the previous item and the presentation Members had received which had outlined the direction of travel nationally and what the good practice guidance was suggesting.  He explained that assumptions had been made about how long it would take to produce a new Local Plan.  He advised that these assumptions had now been reviewed, and taking into consideration the fact that work was still being undertaken on the SHMA, the updated advice to Members was that it would take no longer to produce a single Local Plan than it would to produce a revised Core Strategy.

In respect of the plan period, the Director of Services advised that the preferred time horizon set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was 15 years from the adoption of the plan.  If the plan period remained as at present and the plan was adopted in 2016, this would only just meet the 15 year horizon, which could place the soundness of the plan at risk.  Therefore it was recommended that Members consider extending the plan period to 2036, which would have the added benefit of coinciding with the SHMA.

Councillor C Large welcomed the idea of moving forward with a single Local Plan as this would fit in very well with the NPPF.  She also felt that the plan period should be extended to 2036, especially as it coincided with the SHMA.  She stated that some Local Authorities were looking at limits to development as well as local allocations, and asked if this Council would be considering this also. 

The Director of Services stated that it would be a matter for Members to decide what types of policies were included in the Local Plan.  He explained that considering the limits to development would add another layer of detail to the Local Plan and there would be a lot of detail to consider, which could potentially add time to the process.  He added that there were other ways to address the limits to development, however this was not a decision that needed to be made today.  He advised that he would want to present the Committee with more detailed information which Members would need to consider before a decision could be reached. 

Councillor J Legrys added that this was an issue at Planning Committee and when meeting residents.  He stated that as an alternative method was being proposed,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Local Plan Advisory Committee take place on Tuesday, 29 April 2014.

Councillor R Blunt left the meeting at 5.53pm during the discussion on item 5 – Update on National Planning and Local Plan Process.

Councillor T Neilson entered the meeting at 6.20pm during the discussion on item 6 – Possible Scope of the Local Plan.