Agenda and minutes

Councillor J Bridges noted that a number of members of the public were in attendance.  He stated however that it would not be practical to invite everyone in attendance to speak at the meeting.  He encouraged all interested parties to speak to their Ward Members with any concerns and these could then be fed into the Committee and on to Council.  He advised that members of the public would have an opportunity to ask questions at any full Council meeting.

Councillor J Bridges announced that he had invited Councillor M B Wyatt to participate in future meetings of the Local Plan Advisory Committee in a non-voting capacity.  He stated that he had used his discretion as Chairman to make this decision in the interests of fairness as this was a cross-party Committee.

Councillor J Legrys stated that the Chairman was entitled to make this decision, however it had not been discussed with the Labour Group at all.  He added that if this were truly to be a cross-party Committee, Councillor A C Saffell should also be invited to participate.  He wished to formally nominate Councillor A C Saffell.

Councillor D De Lacy stated that it had been difficult to persuade the Labour Group to participate in this process and the decision had been finely balanced.  He added that the constitution of the Committee had been negotiated and agreed and it appeared that the Chairman had now unilaterally varied this without any engagement with the Labour Group.  He stated that this would be reported back to the Labour Group and there may be consequences.

The Director of Services referred Members to the Terms of Reference of the Committee which had been agreed by full Council, in particular the provision within the Terms of Reference which allowed the Chairman to invite other Members to attend and participate in the meeting in a non-voting capacity at his discretion.

Councillor D De Lacy stated that he had envisaged that Members would be invited to participate at certain points in the process, rather than permanently.

Councillor J Bridges stated that he had made it clear at the previous meeting that this was to be an open, cross-party Committee and he could not see any issue with other Members participating in the same way that Members were being allowed to speak at this meeting.  He advised that it would not be practical to accept a nomination for Councillor A C Saffell to sit on the Committee without a request from him to participate.

Councillor J Legrys acknowledged that this was a matter of interpretation and it was unfortunate that this had not been discussed prior to the meeting.

To receive and note any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence received.

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 S Sheahan sought clarification from the Legal Advisor that if a particular site in the SHLAA was under discussion which a Member had an interest in, at that point it would be appropriate to declare a pecuniary disclosable interest and leave the room.

The Legal Advisor clarified that as the Committee was not a decision-making body, Members should feel able to make any comments they wished to.

Councillor J Legrys declared a non-pecuniary interest as a volunteer at Hermitage FM, should there be any discussion on Coalville Town Centre.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2014.

Councillor S Sheahan referred to minute number 4 and his request that the minutes of the Housing Planning and Infrastructure Group be made available to this Committee.  He clarified that this should include the minutes of the Members Advisory Group.  He also asked if the minutes were likely to be available soon.

Councillor J Bridges advised that they should be available in the coming week.

Councillor D De Lacy referred to the discussion about the limits to development at the previous meeting and asked at what stage the Committee would consider this matter.  He also asked if officers were in a position to produce a road map of the tasks that needed to be completed.

The Director of Services advised that he anticipated that a programme would be brought to the next meeting of the Committee.

Terms of Reference attached.

The Director of Services referred Members to the Terms of Reference of the Committee which were attached for information.

Report of the Director of Services.

The Director of Services presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the purpose of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and that it was considered appropriate to prepare a new SCI as there had been changes in legislation since the current SCI had been adopted in 2006.  He sought comments from the Committee on what a revised SCI should include.

Councillor J Legrys welcomed the opportunity to have this issue discussed by the Committee.  He commented that he had discussed this issue in a briefing with the Director of Services.  He stated that it was essential to revise the consultation process as early as possible, as there were deep concerns about the length of time that the consultation would take.  He added that the Labour Group would want to put forward proposals for consultation and he sought clarification on the timescales and how this would be undertaken.  He felt that if the Committee was meeting again in 1 month this may be too early, however it was important not to drag the process out.  He stated that he wanted to see Councillors much more involved in the consultation, engagement with Town and Parish Councils and involvement in the Neighbourhood Plan process.

Councillor J Bridges stated that risk management was an issue.  He added that the consultation process needed to be done effectively, consistently and it was imperative to get the SCI right.  He appreciated the concerns expressed by Councillor J Legrys.

The Director of Services advised that it was intended to bring a report to the next meeting of the Committee which would clarify the content of the SCI and report any comments received.

There was a discussion around the timescales for providing comments for the next meeting.  The Director of Services advised that in order to produce a meaningful report for the meeting, he would need to receive comments 2 weeks beforehand.  He added that a final decision would not be sought at this meeting, however Members would be asked to agree a document which would then be consulted upon.

It was moved by Councillor R D Bayliss, seconded by Councillor J Legrys and

RESOLVED THAT:

a)            The Council prepare a new Statement of Community Involvement;

b)            A further report on the possible content of the new Statement of Community Involvement be brought to a meeting of this Advisory Committee and;

c)            The Advisory Committee comment on any issues and approaches to consultation which they would wish to see reflected in a new Statement of Community Involvement.

Report of the Director of Services.

The Director of Services presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the revised recommendation circulated at the meeting which reflected the fact that the Advisory Committee was not a decision-making body.  He advised that the SHLAA was a delegated decision and outlined its role in the preparation of a Local Plan.  He referred to correspondence which had been received from representatives of Friends of Snibston relating to 3 sites in the SHLAA.  He explained that the SHLAA itself was a technical document and the process was set out in national guidance, which all Local Authorities were required to follow.  He emphasised that the SHLAA sets out a list of sites that had the potential to be included in the Local Plan and had the potential to be developed, and at this stage there was no commitment that any of the sites would be developed.  He added that as the process was followed, the list of sites would get shorter until the Council decided which of the sites to include in the Local Plan.  He emphasised that it was not appropriate at this stage to make decisions about which sites should be included in the Local Plan or the SHLAA as this was a future debate.

Councillor R D Bayliss agreed that it would be most unwise to start eliminating sites at this point.

Councillor S Sheahan stated that the Director of Services had reassured Members about the status of sites in the SHLAA, however he asked how the current position had been arrived at as the previous SHLAA was very detailed.  He sought clarification on the reasons why sites had not been included, and what had changed.

The Planning Policy and Business Focus Team Manager gave a presentation to Members outlining the purpose of the SHLAA and the findings of the assessment.  In response to Councillor S Sheahan’s question he explained that the starting point had been the previous SHLAA in 2011.  He added that the same reference numbers had been retained from the previous version where possible for consistency and for ease of reference.  He explained that because of this, there were gaps in the numbering due to sites having been developed or no longer being considered suitable for other reasons.

The Consultant added that from his broader experience, it would be very unwise to start excluding sites at this stage.  He explained that doing so could put the Council at risk considering that the work on the evidence base was yet to be completed and the policies which would set out why sites should be excluded from the SHLAA were not yet in place.

The Legal Advisor endorsed the Consultant’s comments and added that a clear understanding of the purpose of the SHLAA was essential at the outset.  He added that a proportionate evidence base was required to inform Members in respect of the strategy for determining the sites to be included in the Local Plan.  He explained that the SHLAA would form part of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To agree the date of the next meeting and consider any future items for the work programme.

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Local Plan Advisory Committee take place on 3 June 2014 at 6.30pm.

Councillor T Neilson entered the meeting at 7.15pm during the debate on item 6 – Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.