Agenda item

(Director of Planning & Economic Development) To consider the attached report (LPC-009-2012/13).

(1)        That the purposes of the workshops held to date and the activities undertaken be noted;

(2)        That the feedback from the workshops held to date be noted;

(3)        That the proposed actions in respect of the feedback received and the next steps proposed in the engagement of County, District, Town and Parish Councillors through additional workshops be noted; and

(4)        That Youth Council involvement in the Local Plan process be fostered by the Planning Portfolio Holder attending and presenting an item at one of their meetings in the near future.

The Assistant Director of Planning & Economic Development (Policy & Conservation) presented a report reviewing the first three Local Plan Member workshops.

The Assistant Director reported that three workshops were held on 26 January, 9 February and 9 March 2013 and were open to District, County, Parish and Town Councillors as well as the Youth Council. The workshops were designed to assist in considering the options for the future growth of the District and provide a more detailed deliberation of the local areas, through reducing the number of options for the next stage of the Local Plan – the Preferred Options stage or draft Plan. The Workshops were all well attended, with at least 31 District Councillors, one County Councillor, and 15 Town and Parish Councillors or Clerks present at each session. Feedback was increasingly positive as the event programme progressed, with the majority of responses rating the workshops as either quite or very useful.

The Assistant Director stated that the participants were interested to know more about:

·                     population projections and housing targets;

·                     brownfield sites;

·                     the ownership of certain sites;

·                     landscape appraisals; and

·                     the infrastructure required to support further development.

As a result, an additional workshop was planned for the summer to cover the issues of population projections and housing targets for the Plan. A report would then be submitted to the Cabinet Committee to decide which options should be tested further. A further workshop would then be held to consider the results of this further testing before the Cabinet Committee decided upon the Preferred Options and the draft Local Plan.

The Assistant Director informed the Cabinet Committee that the results of the workshops were being written up and would be used to test the options set out in the Community Choices consultation. In addition, answers were being prepared for the questions raised that could not be dealt with at the time. Experience so far indicated that the workshop format was a useful tool for Members in considering complex matters for the Local Plan. It was possible that other issues would arise during the future process that would be beneficial to consider in a workshop format and this would be given due consideration.

The Planning Portfolio Holder thanked the Officers for their efforts in organising the workshops, especially given the complex nature of the subject matter, and emphasised that no decisions had yet been taken in relation to the Local Plan as the workshops were intended to assist in shaping the Plan rather than determine it.

The Cabinet Committee was informed that no date had yet been set for the fourth workshop. The latest population data was due from the Government in April, which would then have to be analysed by the Council’s consultant, so the next workshop would take place in the Summer. There was some concern expressed that Members might be on vacation and miss the workshop; could not some advance notice of the likely date be given now? The Planning Portfolio Holder stated that the population statistics would also be analysed by the Essex Planning Officers Association (EPOA), and it was hoped that the next workshop would be organised for late July. The Director of Planning & Economic Development stated that an item would be placed in the Council Bulletin advertising when the data became available.

The Cabinet Committee noted that the emphasis so far in the workshops had been on Housing, and perhaps this reflected the concerns of residents. The Director agreed that the previous workshops had  concentrated on issues of concern to Members, but other issues could be examined in further workshops. The Portfolio Holder confirmed that work was progressing on other issues and an update would be given in due course. The Assistant Director stated that Officers wanted to publish a factsheet containing answers to the questions raised during the workshops held to date, and that there would be a number of key issues for Members to consider in further workshops such as employment.

The Cabinet Committee was told that many Local Plans currently in development would need to be revised when the 2011 census figures became available, which would incur further public expense. Given this problem, the current deadline appeared to be unfair, and maybe the Council should write to the Government highlighting this and requesting a relaxation of the deadline. The Chief Executive commented that this would be a worthwhile exercise, especially if the letter was jointly drafted and signed by other Essex authorities. The Portfolio Holder declared that the EPOA shared the concerns expressed regarding the late availability of the revised population figures, however the Director of Planning & Economic Development reminded the Cabinet Committee that the Government’s focus at the moment was on promoting growth.

The Portfolio Holder reassured the Cabinet Committee that some discussions had taken place with neighbouring authorities, including the London Borough Councils of Redbridge and Waltham Forest; in addition, there were the ongoing discussions with the tri-council group that included Broxbourne Borough Council and the London Borough Council of Enfield. It was enquired as to whether the results of the Issues & Options consultation had been fed back to residents. The Assistant Director stated that Officers had replied to most of the respondents from the consultation, but the process was still on-going given the large of volume of responses. The Leader added that the results of the consultation would be published on the Council’s website and an article placed in the Forester magazine. The Portfolio Holder added that he intended to present an item to the Youth Council at one of their forthcoming meetings, in an effort to engage the younger residents of the District with the Local Plan process.

Finally, in respect of the infrastructure improvements required within the District, the Assistant Director explained that there was still much information and data to analyse before decisions could be made, as the ability to deliver infrastructure improvements would affect the growth possible within the District and could be a limiting factor.

Decision:

(1)        That the purposes of the workshops held to date and the activities undertaken be noted;

(2)        That the feedback from the workshops held to date be noted;

(3)        That the proposed actions in respect of the feedback received and the next steps proposed in the engagement of County, District, Town and Parish Councillors through additional workshops be noted; and

(4)        That Youth Council involvement in the Local Plan process be fostered by the Planning Portfolio Holder attending and presenting an item at one of their meetings in the near future.

Reasons for Decision:

An update and review report for noting.

To engage the Youth Council in the Local Plan process.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To revert to engagement with District, Town and Parish Councillors through the Council Bulletin, briefings and the Local Plan Cabinet Committee. However, the ability to consider matters in depth presented by a workshop format was considered highly beneficial.