Issue - meetings

Councillor Colin Winder submitted the following questions under Procedure Rule 10:-

Councillor Colin Winder submitted the following questions under Procedure Rule 10:-

The SSDC Local Plan 2006/2028 was found to be unsound by the planning inspector in 2010. A principle modification required by the inspector was a revised policy to deal with the front loading in Wincanton of housing.  The inspector required a policy to balance the employment and housing provision to be set in place within 3 years. In 2014 SSDC submitted a revised local plan which proposed a major modification (District Executive agreed proposal attached) to the inspector which was agreed and allowed the local plan to go forward. Since that time no consultation has taken place, no policy has been proposed, and the legal requirement with regards housing has not been complied with.  The SSDC local plan would seem to be nullified by the failure of the council to comply with the major modifications agreed by the inspector to make the plan sound.  We now have difficult legal problem, as we have an application for 210 dwellings, which are not in the direction of growth set out in the 2015 local plan, and which are in an area specifically excluded for development in the Wincanton Neighbourhood Plan (a plan which was extensively consulted on with the residents, and was approved with a public vote). Where do the residents of Wincanton stand in this planning problem, when they have set out their clear wishes and intentions, but could be frustrated by the failure of SSDC to carry out the legal provisions they had agreed with the inspector. This raises a number of legal questions which have to be resolved now.

The Leader of Council provided the following responses to the questions:-

Q.     With a deficiency of housing numbers in SSDC how do the council propose to defend the approved housing levels in Wincanton against developers use of district wide figures?

A.     The five-year housing land supply is calculated on a District-wide basis. The Council monitors planning applications for housing development and relevant data regarding housing completions and commitments can be used to inform the decision-making process. Wincanton is defined as a Primary Market Town development should be of a scale that fits with the settlement hierarchy.

Q.   With the slow decline in local businesses how do you propose to provide economic growth in Wincanton as opposed to the investment in economic venture outside the district?

A.    The Local Plan Review proposes to allocate land for economic development at Wincanton and 4.38ha are required under the adopted Local Plan.

The Council is committed to the Wincanton Town Centre Strategy, which aims to boost footfall and help create a more vibrant town centre. The strategy includes public realm improvements such as widening footways, introducing different surface dressings, better delineation of on street parking and planting schemes, proposals are tailored to individual locations. This complements working with property owners and landlords to increase the appeal of existing properties and incentivizing occupancy with higher grant interventions. The strategy is primary action point 5.3  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118