Agenda item

Report of the Director of Services

Presented by the Regeneration and Planning Portfolio Holder

Councillor T J Pendleton presented the report to Members, highlighting the progress made in aiding the preparation of the Local Plan.  He added that the Council was currently meeting the target identified by the SHMA in terms of housing need.  He thanked all involved for their work so far.

Councillor J Legrys commented that he welcomed the intervention of the Chairman of the Local Plan Advisory Committee to facilitate excellent debate, and added that the last meeting was perhaps the best he had ever attended at the Council.  He made reference to the discussion that would be taking place at the Cabinet meeting on 23 September regarding an additional 4,000 homes at Bardon.  He stated that this authority had spent £40,000 to develop a SHMA, which was an excellent piece of work.  He commented that with the planning applications already granted, there would only be an additional 1,500 homes required up until 2031, which would make a mockery of the work being done by the Local Plan Advisory Committee.  He questioned why the authority was bothering to develop a Local Plan when the Economic Growth Strategy pre-empted it.

Councillor A C Saffell pointed out that there had been four meetings of the Committee so far; three of which were mentioned in the report.  He sought clarification regarding the other two meetings.  It was clarified that the minutes were not available at the time of the production of the agenda.

Councillor R Blunt thanked Councillor J Legrys for his comments on the work of the Chairman of the Local Plan Advisory Committee.  He made reference to the amount of work involved and added that it was fortunate that the Chief Executive had taken the lead on a county basis.  He commented that the process was torturous, however the authority was heading in the right direction.  He thanked Councillors J Legrys, J Bridges and C Large for their hard work.

Councillor T Pendleton stated that he was delighted to accept the fact that £40,000 was well spent on delivering the SHMA.  He commented that he was surprised that the lead Member for Planning had not got his facts right.  He clarified that the whole housing market was led by market forces, and the only way to meet the housing requirement was through completed applications, as planning permissions did not count towards the totals.  He stated that it was necessary to ensure there was a buffer, and this did not negate the Local Plan, but gave even more focus to delivering enough sites to fulfil the housing need.  He commented that there were only a handful of Members who had not voted in favour of the Local Plan.

It was moved by Councillor T J Pendleton, seconded by Councillor R Blunt and

RESOLVED THAT:

a)      The minutes of the Local Plan Advisory Committee of 18 March 2014 and 29 April 2014 be received and noted;

b)      The recommendations of the Local Plan Advisory Committee of 3 June 2014 as set out in paragraphs 4.2 and 4.3 of this report be noted; and

c)      The recommendations of the Local Plan Advisory Committee to prepare a new Local Plan and that the plan period be 2011-2031 be agreed and;

d)      The Terms of Reference for the Local Plan Advisory Committee be not changed.