Agenda item

The Chairman noted that the Council had been unable to recruit a replacement Principal Spatial Planner and so the Senior Policy Planner was standing in with the assistance of the Development Manager. 

The Senior Policy Planner drew Members attention to the table 4.1 in the report which demonstrated the work achieved during the previous 18 months.  She advised that it took forward their programme of work for producing an early review of the Local Plan.  Table 4.2 showed the future timetable which included public consultation in the Autumn and adoption of the early review Local Plan in December 2020.  Other monitoring work would continue and it was hoped that additional resources would be found to assist.  External consultants were also being used for specific projects.

In response to questions from the Scrutiny Committee, the Senior Policy Planner and the Development Manager advised:-

·         Information required by the Local Government Boundary Commission review had been factored into the team’s timetable of work.

·         The team would work as effectively as it could within their resources and any delays would be reported to the LDS Board.

·         There was no penalty for not completing the early review of the Local Plan by March 2018.  If a major planning application was submitted in Wincanton then the Spatial Policy team could demonstrate they were working towards the early review.

·         There would not be a great deal of money raised through CIL contributions during the first year and the majority of it was for infrastructure projects identified in the Council’s Regulation 123 list.  15% of the money collected would be distributed to the parishes where development took place.

·         The monitoring of the delivery of evidence base documents would be through the Authority Monitoring Report and LDS Board.  Recent appeal decisions had shown that the lack of a 5 year land supply did not necessarily mean the appeal would be allowed if there were good planning reasons for refusing the application. 

In response to questions from Members, the Senior Policy Planner advised that:-

·         The public consultation would take place in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement.

·         The Council was committed to an early review of the Local Plan to address issues in Wincanton and the Spatial Policy team could demonstrate they were working towards the early review if there was ever an appeal challenge. 

·         It was too early to rely on the projected housing figures (objectively assessed housing need) although the Strategic Housing Market Assessment had been published on the website.  The report could be referred to but would not carry weight at this time. 

·         A consultation strategy including how Members would be involved would be produced in due course.

During discussion the following points were made:-

·         The Council should write to the Secretary of State to point out the contradictory proposal in the Governments White Paper regarding the re-use of brownfield industrial sites for housing. 

·         Officers should meet with the Wincanton Ward Members to discuss the early review of the Local Plan and the impact of any current development.

·         It would helpful for communities and Members to receive an explanation of how the CIL payments would operate so they could understand the new process.

·         The option in the West Dorset, Weymouth & Portland Local Plan Review, Issues and Options Consultation to build houses on Babylon Hill (immediately next to the border with SSDC) should be addressed through the Duty to Co-operate.  

·         Officers from SSDC should contact senior officers from SCC to discuss the slow responses by the Strategic Highways service and its impact on the Local Plan review process.

·         The District Council Network (DCN) had raised the issue of the inconsistency of Planning Inspectors decisions as it created difficulties in relying on their decisions as a material consideration in future planning applications. 

At the conclusion of the debate, Members agreed to confirm the recommendations of the report.