Agenda and minutes

To receive and note any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D De Lacy and C Large.

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.

There were no interests declared.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2014

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2014.

Councillor J Legrys referred to the proposed amendment to the minutes which had been circulated at the meeting.  He moved that the minutes be amended as set out in the paper.  This was seconded by Councillor R Woodward.

Councillor J Legrys pointed out that there were page numbers at the top and bottom of the minutes.  The Legal Advisor clarified the purpose of these.

Councillor R D Bayliss stated that he had no problem with the amendment, however he felt that the subsequent explanation should also be included.  It was agreed that the Democratic Services Officer and the Chairman would agree a suitable form of wording to reflect this.

Terms of Reference attached.

The Director of Services referred to the Terms of Reference and clarified that other Members were able to participate in meetings in a non-voting capacity.  An amended seating plan and the requirement to give notice had been agreed with the Chairman.  A seating area would be set aside at each meeting for Members wishing to participate.  Members would be asked to notify Democratic Services 24 hours in advance of the meeting if they wished to participate, specifying which item(s) their request relates to.  All requests to participate will be subject to the approval of the Chairman.

Councillor R Woodward stated that he felt strongly that democracy was slipping away when Members had to give notice of their intention to speak.  He stated that he had been interrogated when he had asked to participate in this meeting.  He added that he could not know what he wanted to say until he had heard the debate.  He stated that it was appalling that such arrangements had to be made.  He felt that he should be able to come along and ask a question or make a statement as and when he wished to do so.

Councillor J Bridges stated that he had initially requested that comments and questions be directed via Members of the Advisory Committee to ensure that the debate was meaningful.  He added that it was not possible to have every Member at the table, however he would do his best to accommodate requests.

During the debate on item 6 – Local Plan Timetable, Councillor R Woodward stated that he wished to amend the terms of reference of the Advisory Committee as the quorum could be made up of Members of one party.  He felt that there needed to be at least one Member from each party present and requested that the terms of reference be amended accordingly.

Councillor J Bridges advised that the terms of reference had been agreed by Council and would therefore have to be amended by Council.

Councillor R Woodward requested that this issue be addressed.

Report of the Director of Services.

The Director of Services presented the report to Members.  He referred to the previous report the Advisory Committee had received relating to the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and the work that was currently being done on building the evidence base to enable decisions to be made on the Local Plan.  He stated that it was imperative to understand the level of need in the district and the level of house building that would need to be accommodated.  He explained that the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) was not specific to North West Leicestershire and covered the whole of the Leicestershire Housing Market Area (HMA), setting out the housing need for that area.  He added that the SHMA was a requirement to inform the evidence base for the Local Plan.  He advised that the SHMA had now been updated, but there was still work to be done.  He reported that the Council was now in receipt of the final report from the consultant.  He referred to the projected levels of need for the two different plan periods as set out in the report, and advised that these levels were broadly equivalent to the levels which were previously being planned for.  He referred to the duty to co-operate and the need to be satisfied that each authority in the HMA had the land available to accommodate the housing need.  He explained that if one or more authorities were unable to accommodate their level of need, it would be a matter for the remaining local authorities to agree a redistribution that could be accommodated, which could in turn affect the projected level of need in our area.  He advised that the next meeting of the Members Advisory Group (MAG) would take place on 26 June and progress on the discussions around the duty to co-operate would be considered.  He explained that the MAG was not a decision making group and issues were referred back to the local authority in question for agreement.

Councillor J Bridges asked the Consultant to advise how sound he considered the figures to be and if the Council would have a strong case to resist against the figures increasing.

The Consultant advised that he could not give a definite answer, however he was well aware of the consultants who had compiled the report and they were nationally reputed.  He assured Members that the report would have been compiled in accordance with best practice and he would expect an Inspector to have confidence in the figures coming forward.

Councillor J Legrys stated that he accepted the figures for the Leicestershire HMA.  However he expressed deep concerns that the study did not take into account neighbouring authorities in other areas, particularly South Derbyshire.  He referred to the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) which required an assessment for the whole of the East Midlands, and at that time, there had been criticisms that the West Midlands had not been given due consideration.  He referred to Lichfield and Tamworth and the Northern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Report of the Director of Services.

The Director of Services presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the indicative timetable for the preparation of the Local Plan and the influencing factors thereon as set out in the report.  He referred to the debate on the previous item, which in itself was a significant influencing factor, as it would be difficult to conclude the assessment without agreeing the figures.  He highlighted the timetable set out at Appendix A, which indicated potential adoption in December 2016.

Councillor J Legrys referred to page 4 of the minutes and felt that the Council should be conscious of the timing of the consultation, as the first part took place in July and August, when many Parish Councils and community groups would be closed for the summer holidays.  He accepted the need to commence the consultation however he felt that the timing was unfortunate and the Council would be castigated for trying to consult in July and August.  He welcomed advice on how this problem could be overcome as the manner in which the consultation would take place had not yet been agreed.

Councillor J Bridges reiterated the need for the consultation to commence as soon as possible.

The Planning Policy and Business Focus Team Manager explained that one of the reasons for starting the consultation sooner was the number of events taking place over the next few weeks, such as Picnic in the Park.  He explained that these events had been seen as an opportunity to engage with people and raise the profile of the consultation.  He added that the consultation period was not statutory and could be extended, however this could have a knock-on effect.

Councillor J Bridges stated that he had taken on board Councillor J Legrys’ comments and recommended that the first period of consultation be extended.  He reiterated the need for caution in respect of the timescales.

Councillor J Legrys stated that he thoroughly supported promotion at large events and asked that all Members be made aware so that they could assist.  In respect of the Statement of Community Involvement, he felt that agreement needed to be reached on how this was going to be done and there should be significantly more involvement of Councillors in this process.  He expressed concerns regarding the timing of the consultation in January to March, and added that officers needed to be aware of work that would be taking place during purdah.

Councillor R D Bayliss stated that the usual business of the Council had to continue and added that this was a broadly non-political issue.

Councillor S Sheahan stated that it was originally indicated that this process would be concluded much more quickly.  He sought clarification on the reasons for this.

The Director of Services advised that the original intention had been to resubmit the Core Strategy at the earliest opportunity, which would have been a different timescale.  He explained that the advice from the Consultant had led the Advisory Committee to consider preparing a Local Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

Councillor T Neilson left the meeting at 7.30pm at the close of the discussion on item 5 – Strategic Housing Market Assessment.