Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) As previously discussed at the Local Councils Liaison Committee, the District Council’s consultants will present the findings of Phase I of the Green Belt Review, being undertaken as part of the development of the new Local Plan. An insight into the methodology applied and conclusions reached will be outlined. A copy of the Phase I report will be provided and Local Town and Parish Councils will be asked to provide feedback.

The Committee received a presentation from the Planning Policy Officer concerning Stage I of the Review of the Green Belt. This presentation started with some background information for the Committee before reporting on:

·         the next steps and the timetable for Stage II of the Review;

·         the methodology utilised for Stage I of the Review;

·         the five purposes of the Green Belt, as defined by paragraph 80 of the National Planning Policy Framework;

·         the coverage of the Green Belt in the Epping Forest District;

·         assessment of the 61 Green Belt parcels within the District against the first four purposes of the Green Belt;

·         a map showing the boundaries of the Green Belt parcels within the District;

·         assessment against the first purpose of the Green Belt;

·         a map showing the contribution of each parcel to the first purpose;

·         assessment against the second purpose of the Green Belt;

·         a map showing the current distances between the towns within the District;

·         a map showing the contribution of each parcel to the second purpose;

·         assessment against the third purpose of the Green Belt;

·         a map showing the current encroachment upon the countryside;

·         a map showing the contribution of each parcel to the third purpose;

·         assessment against the fourth purpose of the Green Belt;

·         a map showing the contribution of each parcel to the fourth purpose;

·         assessment against the fifth purpose of the Green Belt, although it was highlighted that this was not actually performed.

·         The aggregate scores for each parcel of Green Belt; and

·         A map indicating the aggregated scores for each parcel as either weak, moderate or strong in their contribution towards the purposes of the Green Belt.

The Senior Planning Policy Officer then continued the presentation regarding Stage II of the Review of the Green Belt, reporting on:

·         the methodology for identifying broad locations for Stage II;

·         establishing a settlement hierarchy;

·         the five categories of services and facilities for the Epping Forest District settlement hierarchy;

·         the scores for the 26 settlements that had been assessed;

·         the draft settlement categories and what  each settlement was classified as;

·         a map of the draft settlement hierarchy;

·         the environmental constraints for development;

·         a map showing the location of the environmental constraints;

·         the parameters used to define the areas of search for new development, adjusted for the existence of defensible boundaries where appropriate;

·         a map indicating the broad locations for Stage II of the Green Belt Review; and

·         three questions for consideration by the Local Councils during the consultation period for Stage I of the Review:

o   have the right type of services and facilities been identified for assessment?

o   have the existing services and facilities been correctly identified for each of the settlements? has anything been missed?

o   have the settlements within the District been placed in appropriate categories?

The Committee expressed concern about the requirement to respond to the Stage I Review by 29 June, in order to draft a report for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 23 July 2015; this was only 2 weeks from the date of this meeting and would require additional meetings to be organised by the Local Councils.

The Deputy Chief Executive acknowledged that some of the timescales within the recently agreed Local Development Scheme were short, but Planning Policy Officers would need to include the comments from the Local Councils in their report to the Cabinet next month. However, the Deputy Chief Executive recognised the concern of the Committee and undertook to consult with the Planning Policy Portfolio Holder on this matter.

The Committee expressed a number of further concerns, which included the top-down approach seemingly employed by the District Council for the Review of the Green Belt, as it was felt to be critical that each Town or Parish Council was consulted about their area. It was also suggested that as four years had elapsed since the initial Issues and Options Consultation, an extra two or three months to allow the Local Councils to be consulted properly over the first stage of the Green Belt Review would not have a detrimental impact upon the Local Plan process. It was opined that there always seemed to be a lack of consultation with the Local Councils, and that it was more important to get the Review right with input from the Town and Parish Councils.

It was also felt that the text on the printed copies of the presentations handed out was too small, and that this meeting should have been webcast to allow the presentations to be reviewed. The Deputy Chief Executive reassured the Committee that electronic copies of the presentations would be made available to the Local Councils. The process required input from Local Councils to ensure that sound judgements were reached. It was highlighted that a delay until September would benefit the Local Councils in considering their response, and would enable the consultation period to be reduced from the 14 weeks currently planned.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Senior Planning Policy Officer stated that Air and Noise Pollution had been excluded at this stage as it required a site by site analysis, but would be assessed at a later stage. As Chigwell and Chigwell Row were separate District Council wards, they had been considered as two separate settlements. However, if Local Councillors felt that they should be classified as one settlement then they were urged to make that clear in their response to the Consultation. It was agreed that names would be added to the various maps to improve legibility.

The Senior Planning Policy Officer stated that Stage II of the Green Belt Review would look at a wider range of factors, such as landscape impact. It was reiterated that all the parcels of land included in Stage II of the Review would undergo further analysis before a decision was taken to release. It was important to stress that sites being put forward to Phase II were not necessarily considered solely for potential release, but sites might be put through on the basis of their importance to be reaffirmed or to explore the potential of developing better defensible boundaries. The Review itself was a single piece of evidence to be used for the Local Plan. It was accepted that a simplistic approach had been taken to the analysis of services and facilities in settlements. For example, if a settlement had a Primary School then that was classed as a facility, regardless of the size of the school or how many pupils it had. Only medical or educational facilities provided by the State had been included, although Dentists were an exception to this.

The Committee had further concerns about the engagement of the public with the Local Plan. It was felt that there needed to be better communication regarding timescales and processes to the Local Councils and the public if the Council was to avoid implementing a contentious Local Plan. It was also noted that no consideration had been given to the location of listed buildings, and that no Local Plan workshops including Town and Parish Councils had been organised by the District Council since 2013.

The Leader of the District Council informed the Committee that he would examine the options for both the date of the July Cabinet meeting and the timescale for that Cabinet meeting over the next few days. However, the Leader warned that the next scheduled Cabinet meeting after July was not until 3 September, and the Council would get criticised if the Local Plan process was unduly delayed.

Resolved:

(1)        That the technical analysis of the Stage I Review of the Green Belt be noted and that the date for feedback on the documents would be advised.