Agenda and minutes

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the following meetings of the Cabinet Committee:

(i)         15 March 2011 (previously circulated); and

(ii)        28 March 2011 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2011 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record; and

(2)        That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2011 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To note the Terms of reference for the Cabinet Committee, as agreed by the Council on 17 February 2009; minute 113(a) refers.

(1)        That a Local Development Framework Cabinet Committee be appointed with the following terms of reference:

(a)        To oversee and submit recommendations to the Cabinet as appropriate on:

(i)         the preparation of the Local Development Framework (LDF);

(ii)        the preparation of the Core Strategy including agreement of consultation stages and documentation, and the responses that should be made to any representations received;

(iii)       the preparation of other Development Plan Documents including agreement of consultation stages and documentation, and the responses that should be made to any representations received;

(iv)       the preparation of Supplementary Planning Documents including agreement of consultation stages and documentation, and the responses that should be made to any representations received; and

(v)        the revision of the Local Development Scheme and monitoring the achievement of milestones;

(b)        To consider and provide input to consultants’ reports which contribute to the establishment of an up-to-date evidence base to influence preparation of the LDF;

(c)        To consider options for joint or coordinated working with other councils, which best meet the needs of this District, as required by the East of England Plan and (where relevant) the London Plan and to make recommendations to the Cabinet thereon;

(d)        To consider the comprehensive review of the East of England Plan, and make recommendations to the Cabinet on any responses to be made;

(e)        To liaise with the Planning Services Scrutiny Standing Panel as appropriate; and

(f)         To work within the budgetary provision for the LDF, as approved by the Cabinet and the Council.

The Cabinet Committee noted its Terms of Reference, as agreed by the Council on 17 February 2009 (minute 113(a) refers).

(Director of Planning & Economic Development) To consider the attached report (LDF-001-2011/12).

The Assistant Director (Policy & Conservation) presented a report which updated the Cabinet Committee on the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.

The Cabinet Committee was reminded that the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment was an essential piece of evidence that would determine the amount of land potentially available within the District for housing development. The draft methodology and Site Appraisal Form had been agreed for public consultation, and as the basis for the appointment of consultants in May 2010. However, due to staff shortages in the Forward Planning team, this work had not been advanced as quickly as hoped, and neither the public consultation nor the appointment of consultants had yet taken place. It was now necessary to amend the methodology and Site Appraisal Form to bring these up to date before work continued.

The Assistant Director stated that the methodology had been updated to reflect the changing policy of the Government. The requirement for a detailed evidence base remained, but the Localism Bill would revoke the Regional Spatial Strategies, which had previously contained housing targets for all local authority areas, in early 2012. Therefore, work on this assessment needed to be started whilst at the same time monitoring the changing Government policy position.

The Assistant Director accepted that it would be difficult to protect people’s homes from being blighted when areas were identified for possible future development, but the Cabinet Committee was reassured that every identified site would need to be fully evidenced and would be subject to a public consultation. A certain lack of coordination between the Assessment and the Joint Housing Market Assessment  was acknowledged. There was the possibility that parts of the Evidence Base would have to be reviewed as the Assessment developed and changes in national planning policy were implemented.

The Assistant Director outlined the amendments to the Site Appraisal Form, which utilised a ‘traffic light’ system. Stage A had been re-ordered to consider first those issues which would cause a site to be immediately discounted with no further investigation. The wording throughout Stage B had been amended to make clear the difference between the “amber” and “red” outcomes, and the section regarding Conservation Areas had moved from Stage C to B as it related to local policy. Finally, in Stage C, clarification had been provided for the travel times relating to distances from amenities, which had been determined using a combination of national policy/guidance and previous good practice. Some of the distances had also been amended to reflect the frequency of the amenity and whether people would travel to reach the amenity, resulting in a greater distance to facilities that occurred more infrequently.

The Assistant Director stated that Green Belt land would only be examined if it was either a brownfield site or a greenfield site adjacent to an existing settlement, and that it would only be identified for further examination and not necessarily designated for future development. The Cabinet Committee felt that questions 4 and 5 regarding Green Belt land should be reviewed. Specifically  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs (6) and (24) of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution requires that the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational Standing Order (6) (non-executive bodies), any item raised by a non-member shall require the support of a member of the Cabinet Committee and the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee. Two weeks’ notice of non-urgent items is required.

There was no other urgent business for the Cabinet Committee to consider.