To receive a verbal report on the current position of the Local Plan.
Minutes:
Councillor J Phillip, Portfolio Holder (Planning Services), was in attendance and provided the following update.
The first tranche of public hearing sessions that had taken place in February 2019, had covered:
· Legal Compliance
· Context, Vision and Objectives and Sustainable Development
· Place Shaping and General Masterplanning Approach
· Quantitative Requirements for Development
· Spatial Strategy
All sessions had been webcast live and were available for later viewing on the Examination website at: www.efdclocalplan.org
Where the Inspector had required further information or clarification on a particular issue, the Council had prepared various notes, which had been submitted to the Inspector and were available on the Examination website. Some of the issues arising from the first tranche of hearing sessions had included delivery of particular sites, settlement hierarchy and its role in the site selection process, and Green Belt release.
The second tranche of hearing sessions had commenced on 19 March 2019 and the following issues would be discussed:
· Site Selection and Viability
· Housing Supply
· Garden Town Communities
· Development Management Policies
The Planning Policy Team was working with colleagues to prepare statements for the third tranche of the hearing sessions, which would take place from 12 May 2019.
The hearing session for Matter 1, Issue 5 on Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) has been postponed until 21 May 2019 in light of the publication of this report in January 2019. The Local Plan Inspector had decided to also postpone discussion of Development Management Policies DM2 (Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation and Lee Valley Special Protection Area) and DM22 (Air Quality) until that date so that the over-lapping matters could be considered at the same session.
The Planning Policy Team was working to develop and finalise a number of further Statements of Common Ground with, for example, Historic England, Highways England, Natural England, Essex County Council and promoters of strategic sites. These would be available on the Examination website once finalised.
As the Public Examination progressed, any proposed amendments to the Local Plan identified through the hearing sessions, matter statements etc., and agreed by the Inspector, would be collated into a list of proposed modifications which would be consulted on, after the hearing sessions had concluded.
The Council was working towards the timeline set out in the Local Development Scheme - November 2018, with the expected adoption of the Local Plan to be in October 2019.
Councillor S Neville asked about the proposed modifications that would be consulted on and what form these would take. Councillor J Philip replied that it would entirely depend on what the modifications were and the scale of modification, as to whether any change would be needed. If changes were needed, then the Council would consult on these. The Council would do as much as it needed to do because of the cost implications.
Councillor A Patel asked that at this stage how much officer time was being utilised. Councillor J Philip replied that virtually all of the Planning Policy Team’s time, from preparation work, attending the hearing sessions, meetings and enquiries from other organisations, e.g. Historic England.