Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Coalville

Contact: Democratic Services  01530 454512

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D Bigby.

 

2.

Declaration of Interests

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

Minutes:

In accordance with the Code of Conduct, Members declared the following interests:

 

Councillor J Hoult declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 6 – Blackfordby Neighbourhood Plan – Proposed Response to Pre-Submission Draft, as a member of the neighbourhood plan steering committee.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 57 KB

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2019.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2019.

 

It was moved by Councillor J Legrys, seconded by Councillor A C Saffell and

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

4.

Admission of Additional Item

Minutes:

RESOLVED THAT:

 

By reason of special circumstance in that an additional item of business needs to be considered before the next meeting of the Local Plan Committee, the item entitled "Shop Fronts and Advertisements SPD: Adoption" be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency in accordance with Section 100B(4)(B) of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

5.

Local Plan Review - Responses to Consultation Update pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Report of the Strategic Director of Place.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Team Manager presented the report to members, highlighting the 62 consultee responses which had been received and the summary as set out in the report.  He drew members’ attention to the update to the National Planning Policy Framework set out at section 2 of the report and outlined the changes of relevance to the Local Plan review, and in particular, the change to the definition of local housing need and confirmation that the 2014 household projections should be used to inform the calculation of local housing need.  He also highlighted the requirement for strategic policies to have a life of a least 15 years from the date of adoption.  This could have implications for the end date of the local plan review.

 

The Planning Policy Team Manager made reference to the Leicester and Leicestershire Strategic Growth plan which had been approved by the Council in December 2018, outlining the elements of direct relevance to the Local Plan review.  He advised that there was no definitive boundary for the Leicestershire International Gateway, however it included areas of both North West Leicestershire and Charnwood. The Strategic Growth Plan stated that the area should accommodate around 11,000 new dwellings up to 2050, but offered no guidance on how this figure was to be split between the two areas.  The figure would need to be agreed through the duty to co-operate. 

 

The Planning Policy Team Manager highlighted the issues relating to employment land and the concerns of officers regarding some aspects of the HEDNA, particularly the high level of office development that was said to be required.  Officers felt it would be prudent to reconsider this issue and had commissioned the advice of consultants. 

 

Councillor A C Saffell highlighted the mismatch between employment and housing provision in Castle Donington in particular and the impact this had on the road network.  He commented that Junction 24 was currently the busiest in the country and the island was frequently gridlocked.  He added that the users at the gateway did not want to utilise rail for their freight so this was bringing additional lorries onto the road network.  He stated that the transport modelling had been undertaken on the original plan where all users of the gateway would be utilising the railway line and the fact that none of the users were doing so had significantly changed the way traffic would operate in that area. 

 

The Planning Policy Team Manager acknowledged that there would be a significant impact on infrastructure with a development of this scale and he advised that detailed traffic modelling would be undertaken with the County Council.  He added that if the model had been based on false assumptions, this would need to be addressed. 

 

In response to questions from Councillor V Richichi, the Planning Policy Team Manager advised that the Council had sufficient land supply globally up to 2031 to meet the requirements in the adopted local plan.  He explained that our housing need figure would have no impact on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) - New Sites pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Report of the Strategic Director of Place.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Team Leader presented the report to members, highlighting the purpose of the SHELAA and the process for identifying and including sites in the document.  He explained that the SHELAA was not a policy document and was essentially a long list of potential sites that could be considered for development, if and when they were required.  He added that inclusion of a site in the SHELAA did not give any indication of its acceptability for development, and did not mean that any application would be approved.  He explained that an exercise calling for sites had been undertaken and all sites submitted had been assessed.  A total of 18 new potential employment sites and 40 new potential housing sites had been submitted. 

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader gave a presentation detailing each new site which had been submitted through the call for sites exercise. 

 

Councillor L Legrys referred to the planned railhead to be constructed at Sinope for the construction of HS2, and expressed concerns that infrastructure should to be planned in conjunction with the Planning Policy Team and needed to accord with the work on the SHELAA.  He asked how these processes could be better explained to the public given the sensitivities of these issues. 

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader acknowledged that the process was not easy to explain to local communities.  He added that a press release could be issued via the Communications Team.  He suggested writing to all parish and town councils to explain some of the information set out in the report. 

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

(i)            The new sites to be included in the 2019 update of the SHELAA be noted;

 

(ii)           The intention to commission evidence to assess the potential implications of the three mixed use sites highlighted at paragraph 4.3 of this report be noted.

 

7.

Blackfordby Neighbourhood Plan - Proposed Response to Pre-Submission Draft pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Report of the Strategic Director of Place.

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Team Leader presented the report to members, outlining the neighbourhood plan process and the recommended modifications to the pre-submission draft of the neighbourhood plan relating to Policy H3 and Policy BE2 as set out in the report. 

 

Councillor J Legrys expressed support for the neighbourhood planning process and felt that all communities should be preparing neighbourhood plans.  He thanked all the volunteers involved in putting the plan together. 

 

Councillor J Hoult thanked the clerk to the town council who had worked tirelessly on the production of the neighbourhood plan. 

 

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

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

(i)            The suggested pre-submission (regulation 14) response to Ashby de la Zouch Town Council in relation to policies BE2 and H3 be endorsed (as set out in paragraphs 3.3 - 3.5 below);

 

(ii)           The additional comments already sent by officers to Ashby Town Council, aimed at improving the general robustness of the neighbourhood plan be noted (as set out in Appendix B);

 

(iii)         Endorsement of any further response by officers at submission (regulation 16) stage be delegated to the Strategic Director of Place, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure;

 

(iv)         The committee notes that once the neighbourhood plan has been submitted the Strategic Director of Place, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure will:

 

            A) publish the plan for a six week period and invite representations;

            B) notify consultation bodies; and

            C) appoint an independent examiner to conduct the examination of            the neighbourhood plan;

 

(v)           That the committee notes that following receipt of the independent examiner’s report, the Strategic Director of Place in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure will determine whether the conditions have been met for the neighbourhood plan to proceed to referendum.

 

8.

Shop fronts and advertisements SPD: Adoption pdf icon PDF 46 KB

Report of the Strategic Director of Place.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Team Manager presented the report to members.

 

It was moved by Councillor J Bridges, seconded by Councillor A C Saffell and

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

The revised Supplementary Planning Document be adopted.