Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) to consider the attached report.

The Planning Policy Manager, Mr Bean, introduced the Uttlesford Local Plan Issues and Options consultation report. The meeting noted that Uttlesford District Council’s previous Local Plan ran into difficulties at Examination in Public late in 2014. The main concerns related to the Objectively Assessed Housing Needs (OAHN) figure relying on out of date evidence and the capacity of the village of Elsenham to take the amount of new development being proposed. The examination was not completed and as a consequence Uttlesford subsequently withdrew the Plan in February 2015.

Their current Issues and Options consultation on a new local plan was intended to be the first of three stages of formal consultation and engagement. The deadline for this consultation was 4 December 2015. They hoped to have a final draft plan by next year and a submission version by 2017. This current consultation included 19 questions broken into 3 categories – general issues; arears of search; and the overall level of development and different strategies for delivering development.

Uttlesford along with Harlow & East Hertfordshire is one of the Strategic Housing Market Area (SHMA) partners with this Council. Officers were concerned that the SHMA was not mentioned in the consultation document as this was a key piece of joint evidence prepared for the four authorities in the Housing Market Area. Officers were also surprised that there was no mention in the document about boundary issues and that more was not said about the potential impact of Stanstead Airport. Councillor Bassett noted that at a recent six authorities meeting they had considered the Hertfordshire Transport Vision and also that elements of the Crossrail 2 would be a relevant cross border strategic issue as well.

However, officers felt that this was an early stage document, which was perhaps put out too quickly, it may have been better if they had waited a month to include more up to date figures.

Officers did not believe it was helpful or necessary to answer the majority of the consultation questions, as most depended on a detailed knowledge of Uttlesford and were aimed at, and more relevant to, residents and businesses of the district.

RESOLVED:

To respond to two of the consultation questions as follows:

(a)  Cross-boundary strategic planning issues should include:

·         housing provision for the settled and travelling communities, taking account of the 2015 SHMA, the updated Essex GTAA, and the planning constraints of neighbouring authorities;

·         implications for housing need, employment demand and commuting patterns from development at Stansted Airport and the Harlow Enterprise Zone;

·         major infrastructure projects including Junction 7a of the M11, the upgrading of the A414 in the Hertford area, and the Hertfordshire Transport Vision and Crossrail 2;

(b)  It is unfortunate that the timing of this consultation has meant that the final version of the SHMA (published on 15^th September) has not been included or even mentioned in the consultation document nor had the joint economic employment evidence. This is a key piece of joint evidence prepared for the four partner authorities in the Housing Market Area. Such an important piece of evidence should be explicitly referred to, and would be helpful in explaining the option figures for housing growth;

(c)  The consultation document should also refer to the Co-operation for Sustainable Development Group which is one of the key mechanisms through which SHMA partners have been, and will continue to be, engaged on cross-boundary issues such as housing and jobs provision and distribution, and infrastructure requirements.