Agenda item

(Planning Policy Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-034-2015/16).

(Planning Policy Portfolio Holder) The following background papers are attached:

1.         Economic Evidence – Objectively Assessed Housing Need for West Essex & East Herts; and

2.         Economic & Employment Evidence – Local Plan & Economic Development Strategy.

(1)        That the findings of the ‘Economic Evidence Report for West Essex and East Herts’ be noted and accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base; and

(2)        That the findings of the ‘Economic and Employment Evidence to Support the Local Plan and Economic Development Strategy’ report be noted and accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy presented a report on the Economic Evidence for the new Local Plan.

The Portfolio Holder stated that the Council’s existing Employment Land Review had been completed in 2010 and required revision. Two reports had been prepared, by the same consultants, to provide up to date robust economic needs evidence for the Local Plan. These were:

·         The ‘Economic Evidence report for West Essex and East Herts’ (‘Joint Economic Report’) – this was commissioned jointly by the Epping Forest, East Herts, Harlow and Uttlesford District Councils. There had been a strong emphasis by Inspectors at Examination in Public stage for some time now that jobs and housing requirements should be aligned, so this study was commissioned on the same basis as the Strategic Housing Market Assessment, to cover the four authorities and to inform all four Local Plans across the ‘Functional Economic Market Area’; and

·         The ‘Economic and Employment Evidence to Support the Local Plan and Economic Development Strategy’ (‘Detailed Economic Report’) – this was commissioned by and for the Council alone and provided a detailed analysis of the assessed economic need, in terms of employment floorspace and type to be provided though the Council’s Local Plan. This document was necessary as the Joint Economic Report was a high level report, and expressed the Objectively Assessed Economic Need as a range of jobs growth per year, whereas the Council also needed to know the floorspace breakdown of what this need might be in order to inform the new Local Plan.

The Portfolio Holder reported that both documents had been prepared in accordance with the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework and the Planning Practice Guidance. They provided an objective assessment of economic need over the Local Plan period 2011 - 2033; whilst in themselves the report findings did not necessarily represent the employment/jobs target, they were an important step towards establishing this for the District. It was therefore proposed that the two new economic evidence reports be accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base, so that they could be used, and balanced along with all the other evidence, to help determine the eventual future employment/jobs target for the District through the Local Plan process.

The Portfolio Holder added that there had been some confusion about the recent announcements by the local Member of Parliament for Harlow. There was no background data to support the these announcements and the reports had been prepared using the available, confirmed data. The Cabinet welcomed the reports, and felt that it was important that they recognised the people who worked from home as this had reduced the amount of economic land required to be made available within the District.

Decision:

(1)        That the findings of the ‘Economic Evidence Report for West Essex and East Herts’ be noted and accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base; and

(2)        That the findings of the ‘Economic and Employment Evidence to Support the Local Plan and Economic Development Strategy’ report be noted and accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure that the Evidence Base for the new Local Plan included robust, up to date economic needs assessments, conforming to national planning policy and guidance, and demonstrating cross border co-operation. This was necessary in order to ensure the preparation of a Local Plan which would be found ‘sound’ at an Examination in Public.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To not include the Joint Economic Report and the Detailed Economic Report into the Local Plan Evidence Base. However, this would jeopardise the Local Plan timetable, and seriously risk the new Local Plan being found unsound at the Examination in Public stage, as it would not be based upon up to date economic needs assessments.

Also, as the Joint Economic Report had been commissioned in conjunction with the three other authorities in the Functional Economic Market Area (East Herts, Harlow and Uttlesford District Councils), even if it were not included in the Evidence Base by this Council it was highly likely to appear in the other authorities’ Evidence Bases, and so would be in the public domain and therefore used within our Functional Economic Market Area.