Agenda

Key to abbreviations:

Other venues are shown in full.

Submission of Epping Forest District Council’s Local Plan has been delayed following a Planning Court ruling on 20 March 2018.

The Court granted CK Properties Theydon Bois Limited (“CK Properties”) permission to apply for judicial review of the Council’s decision on 14 December 2017 to approve the Epping Forest District Local Plan Submission Version 2017 (“LPSV”) for publication and submission to the Secretary of State for independent examination.

CK Properties complains that its land to the east of Theydon Bois was not allocated for residential development in the LPSV and contends that it has been prejudiced by the unavailability of Appendix B to the Site Selection Report (Arup December 2017), during the Regulation 19 publication period.

The Court ordered that the Council be restrained from submitting the LPSV for independent examination until the final determination of the judicial review claim, or further order. The Court also ordered that the judicial review hearing can be expedited and it is listed for hearing on 23 and 24 May 2018 with a time estimate of 1½ days.

The Council will be contesting all the claims made and to be heard at the full hearing but the ruling means the Council cannot meet the agreed submission date of 31 March 2018.

Councillor John Philip, Planning Portfolio Holder for Epping Forest District Council was disappointed by the Court decision but confident of the final outcome. He said; “It is frustrating but it is not the end of the road. We are ready to submit the Plan but circumstances outside our control have created this delay.”

Councillor Philip continued: “Fortunately, the Government’s deadline  extension means the case can be heard without compromising our position. When all the evidence is placed before the judge, we fully expect to win the review. We are still on target to agree 11,400 homes during the Local Plan period up to 2033.”

Guidelines and restrictions on decision making and publicity during the pre-election period

As you will be aware, the local elections are due to take place on Thursday 3 May 2018, so I thought it would be useful to remind you about the guidelines and restrictions on publicity during the pre-election period that effectively starts on Thursday 22 March 2018. These restrictions apply to all elections happening during this period.

From the start of the pre-election period (‘purdah’), the council must comply with restrictions outlined in Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986. In addition a Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity published in 2011 makes clear that particular care should be taken in periods of heightened sensitivity, such as in the run up to an election. The Act defines publicity as “any communication, in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or to a section of the public.”

Generally, the Act says that we should “not publish any material which, in whole, or in part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party.” The Code of Practice recommends that authorities should generally not issue any publicity which seeks to influence voters and that publicity relating to individuals involved directly in the election should not be published unless expressly authorised by statute.

Decision making

In relation to decision making within the council, the position remains that it is ‘business as usual’ unless there are very good reasons why this should not be the case. In the vast majority of cases, the pre-election period will have no impact on normal council business, including the approval of planning decisions.

What this means

• The primary restriction is on proactive publicity by the council which particularly relates to candidates and other politicians involved directly in the election.

• The council can still issue media releases on factual matters provided that these do not identify individual councillors or groups of councillors.

• Councillors are still free to respond to enquiries received from the media in a personal capacity.

• Individual councillors can issue their own statements, write letters to the local newspaper(s) for publication, contact the media directly or say what they like in a personal capacity, but must not use council resources to do so.

It is still possible for the council to issue statements on behalf of a councillor holding a key political or civic position provided it relates to important events which are outside the council’s control and can be shown to justify a member response. These occasions are likely to be rare and to be the exception, rather than the rule.

I hope this note provides you with the general information you need for the pre-election period, but if you have specific concerns or queries, please feel free to contact me.

(Further information: Tom Carne ext 4039)

Please be aware that the date of the next meeting of the Epping Forest Local Highways Panel will be on Monday 2 July 2018 at 5pm in Committee Room 2.

(Further information: Jackie Leither ext 4756)

Please see attached.

Wendy Jackson, Essex County Council Passenger Transport Manager - T: 03330 322432

E: Wendy.Jackson@essex.gov.uk has advised the following;

“…. is to notify you of changes to ECC Sunday service 501 which is currently operated by NIBS buses. This service will be withdrawn with effect from 28^th March. The service provides a bus every two hours between Ongar and Harlow.

However, Trustybus service 420 (North Weald to Harlow) via Epping  will be extended to Ongar with effect from 30^th March and will offer an hourly service.

Timetables will be available on the bus from this Sunday.”

Please be reminded that tickets for the Easter raffle in aid of the Chairman’s Charities are available from Shirley Hawkins or the Democratic Services Officers.

Please see attached.

Please be advised that the Licensing Unit has received the following applications for New Premises Licence made under the Licensing Act 2003 for the premises below:

Please ensure that any comments/objections are received by the Licensing team on or before the consultation end date.

Manager                                                      Kim Tuckey 01992 564034

Licensing Compliance Officer                      Sarah Moran 01992 564270

Licensing Compliance Officer                      Nuala Clark  01992 564340

Licensing  Compliance Officer                     Joanne Owen 01992 564721

Licensing Compliance Officer                      Handan Ibrahim 01992564153

Licensing Officer                                          Jane Mullinger 01992 564461

1.               Appeals Lodged

None this week

2.         Forthcoming Planning Inquiries/Hearings -

None this week

3.               Enforcement Appeals

None this week

4.         Appeal Decisions

None this week

5.         Tree Preservation Orders

None this week

6.         S106 Agreements

None this week

7.         Changes to Planning Systems

None this week

None this week

It is important to note, that when enforcement action has been authorised, this includes any subsequent action under Part VII of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, including a prosecution or an injunction.

The notification of decisions taken by individual Portfolio Holders is no longer included in the Council Bulletin.

All members of the Council receive automatic email notification of the publication of each individual Portfolio Holder decision and the call-in period for each decision commences immediately. Members wishing to call-in a decision should complete the attached call-in form and return it to Democratic Services before the expiry of five working days following the publication date of the decision. Members should refer to the Constitution (Article 6 - Overview and Scrutiny) for the rules of call-in.