Agenda item

To consider the attached draft Cabinet report. Appendices to the draft report form a supplementary agenda.

The Interim Assistant Director, Planning Policy and Implementation, A Blom-Cooper detailed the Green Infrastructure Strategy (GIS) report. The Council’s emerging Local Plan set out policies in relation to the provision and enhancement of Green and Blue Infrastructure, the protection of the District’s ecological assets and achieving high quality design. To support these policies and address the requirement to provide suitable avoidance or mitigation measures to manage any potential impacts of growth on protected sites, including the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the Council had developed a Green Infrastructure Strategy (‘the Strategy’). The Strategy would ensure that high quality Green and Blue Infrastructure, including the provision of Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANG) and Infrastructure Enhancement Projects, would be delivered alongside the growth proposed in the District as part of the emerging Local Plan.

The principle purpose of the Strategy was to act as a practical guide in the design, development management and implementation processes to ensure the creation of a sustainable network of high-quality, multifunctional spaces that provide greater connections between existing and new communities, other amenity spaces and the local countryside

There had been over 900 responses to the consultation on the draft Strategy carried out in June and July 2020. Details of the comments and how they had been dealt with formed an appendix to the report. In response to the consultation and the quality review panel, the structure of the document had changed and new information for site specific enhancements was detailed in part 4 of the Strategy.

The Strategy proposed for adoption had the following five parts:

-       Primer: Introducing Green and Blue Infrastructure

-       Part 1: Implementation – Enhancing Our Existing Network (focus for community, Town and Parish Councils, authority officers)

-       Part 2: Implementation – Landscape Led Design (focus for planning applicants, designers and authority officers)

-       Part 3: Implementation – Strategic Allocations and Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) (focus for strategic site developers, designers, authority officers and policy makers)

-       Part 4: Implementation – Infrastructure Enhancement Projects (focus on projects in Debden, Loughton, Theydon Bois and Buckhurst Hill to mitigate the effects of development on the Epping Forest SAC).

The strategy would provide the Council’s response to the Local Plan Inspector’s Advice in relation to mitigating the effects of recreational pressure upon the Epping Forest SAC.

Cllr Bassett acknowledged the amount of consultation that had taken place and suggested that the Strategy put the Council in a good place to start from.

Cllr McCredie welcomed the green initiative, commented on wildlife enhancements and whilst outside of the scope of the report asked about future school provision.  A. Blom-Cooper advised that the updated Infrastructure Delivery Plan set out the education provision required to be delivered to meet the proposed growth in the District.

Cllr McIvor queried if information on recreational visitors to the forest could be used in the future.  A Blom-Cooper advised that visitor surveys had been carried out and a future survey would be carried out. Cllr Bassett advised that Economic Board, Tourist Group received information on where visitors were coming from and Cllr Bedford advised that Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data also detailed where visitors had come from and that visitor numbers had increased through the lockdown. ANPR data and visitor numbers would be monitored in the future.

The Chairman acknowledged the amount of work in the report.

Resolved.

The Committee recommended the report to Cabinet