Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning (Place Making) advised that the consultation on the issues and options had taken place and the responses had informed the proposed further consultation (Preferred Options document).  She noted there was a new formula for calculating the housing requirement in the area which meant 14,510 properties to be built which equated to 726 per year.  She said the majority of new housing would be in Yeovil followed by the Market Towns and Rural Centres though the employment land requirements were not complete it was appropriate to continue with the consultation. 

The Specialist (Strategic Planning) said the consultation document had been prepared in line with the new National Planning Performance Framework (NPPF) published in July 2018 and was constantly measured against the housing land supply.  In response to the public questions regarding the Shudrick Valley site in Ilminster, she said that although they were aware of the history, Ilminster was a sustainable market town and it could not be discounted for future development.  The proposed upgrades to the A358 and A303 were of significance.  She had no immediate knowledge of the proposed Carnival site in Kingstone and would provide a written answer to this question.

Written answer:

The Preferred Options site at Shudrick Lane is not related to planning application number 18/02609/FUL: erection of buildings to store and aid the construction of carnival floats. Ilminster Town Council, are the named applicant on the planning application, submitting on behalf of the Carnival Club, benefiting from a 50% discount in the application fee. There have been concerns raised from interested parties, including the neighbouring Parish Council’s/Meetings regarding the lack of consultation prior to the application being submitted, however advice from Legal Services has confirmed that there is nothing procedurally incorrect with the approach that has been taken.

The second Specialist (Strategic Planning) noted that the district wide figure for employment land had reduced from the adopted Local Plan figure of 140 hectares to 91 hectares due to revised economic projections equating to less jobs requiring employment land/premises. This was partly due to the ageing population and a rise in people working from home. She was currently working through the review to produce evidence by settlement.

In response to questions from Members, the Specialists Strategic Planning and the Lead Specialist, Strategic Planning advised that:-

·         The employment policy had evolved significantly from the previous plan and was supportive of businesses in market towns.  If businesses came forward the policies would support them.

·         If the planning appeal at Foxes Run, Castle Cary is dismissed then the site would be removed from the Plan.

·         The submission for a garden town/village near Babcary was not being proposed in the Preferred Options document.

·         There was a new category in the settlement hierarchy for Villages.

·         The annual target of 726 dwellings had only been exceeded twice in the past 10 years.  The delivery of housing was a priority project in the new Council Plan.

·         The Growth Deal for Oxfordshire includes the delivery of 100,000 homes by 2031 and introduces so called ‘planning flexibilities’ for the authorities in the county. These include the introduction of a county-wide 3 year housing land supply being applied whilst the new Joint Spatial Plan is being prepared, as well as a bespoke Housing Delivery Test

During discussion, Members made the following points:-

·         The area needed inward investment in order to achieve the 726 dwellings per year.

·         There was a need in rural communities for good quality broadband connections

·         The Government should review their policies if Councils were unable to achieve the housing figures.

·         The Council Plan priority projects 5 and 6 should help towards opening some of the key sites for development.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to approve the recommendations of the report.