Agenda item

To consider the attached report that went to the Local Plan Cabinet Committee on 14 May 2018.

The Select Committee agreed to bring forward agenda item 12.

The Planning and Governance Portfolio Holder, Councillor J Philip, reported that he had not received any news on the judicial review of the Local Plan.

This Local Plan update had been reported at the Local Plan Cabinet Committee on 14 May 2018. There had been significant work achieved around the Harlow-Gilston Garden Town. Monthly meetings had helped to drive progress forwards. With the Implementation Team’s funding in place, recruitment to the team had commenced. The first meeting of the Quality Review Panel in April 2018 had considered the pre-application proposal for Quinton Hill Farm, an industrial development site in Waltham Abbey.

Regarding the West Essex and East Hertfordshire Housing Market Area (HMA), the impact of growth from visitors and road traffic on air quality was of particular importance to the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which needed to be dealt with quickly. This had led to the agreement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the four district councils (Epping Forest, East Herts, Harlow and Uttlesford) plus Hertfordshire and Essex County Councils, Natural England and the City of London Corporation (Conservators of Epping Forest) to monitor any environmental impact on the Forest. A strategy to mitigate such impacts had also been agreed to cover the management of visitor pressure and air quality. Further transport and air quality modelling would be undertaken with and without mitigation schemes within the Epping Forest SAC to produce a revised Transport Assessment Report. To help address the pressure on air quality, consideration would also be given to the implementation of sustainable transport schemes. Furthermore, the Council had a duty under the Habitats Regulations to protect the Epping Forest SAC from the effects of development.

The four district councils had also commissioned a study in 2017, which had now been completed, to assess employment needs of the West Essex and East Herts Functional Economic Market Area (FEMA). A MoU to reflect the report’s findings was being progressed to achieve an agreed approach to meeting future employment demands across the FEMA through emerging Local Plans.

The Co-operation for Sustainable Development Board, which included the Council, continued to converse with Princess Alexandra Hospital on its options to relocate the hospital to a new site (preferred option) or redevelopment.

The latest Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Report had assessed the flood risk posed to each of the development sites and also identified which sites would require the Exception Test. The recommendations provided regarded the issues that would need to be addressed as part of a site specific Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) at the planning application stage.

Ten parish councils had started to prepare their own Neighbourhood Plans. Chigwell Parish Council had now submitted its Neighbourhood Plan to the Council for (Regulation 16) publication, which would require a consultation for a period of six weeks.

The Interim Assistant Director (Forward Planning) reported that a consultation on Epping Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan was currently being undertaken. This would close on 31 July 2018 and it would then be submitted to the Council for examination.