Agenda item

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three-minute time limit applies to each speaker.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

Requests to speak at the meeting under Public Question Time must be made to democraticservicessouth@somerset.gov.uk  by 5pm on the Wednesday prior to the meeting.  For those wishing to speak on an application, requests must be made by 5pm on the Thursday prior to the meeting.

The Chair advised that one member of the public had registered to ask a question under Public Question Time and invited Emma Snead to address the committee. The question, which had been submitted in advance of the meeting was;

My question relates to the news that two King’s Counsel, including one appointed by Somerset Council, have agreed that nutrient neutrality mitigation can be achieved by relying on third party actions, such as Wessex Water’s new treatment facilities designed to remove 17 tonnes of phosphate per year to accommodate future housing growth.  Assuming the Council will want to pursue, with the utmost urgency, this opportunity to unblock the development pipeline, the next issue that needs urgent attention is the slow progress on agreeing section 106 agreements. Outstanding s106 agreements are another major impediment to reaching a 5-year housing land supply in South Somerset – but one largely in the control of the Council itself.   Given this tremendous opportunity, what steps is the South Somerset planning team taking to increase the rate of section 106 review and agreement, to ensure the area reaches a deliverable 5-year housing land supply as soon as possible, and is able to return to plan-based decisions?

The Lead Planning Officer in attendance read a statement in response as follows.

At the Strategic Planning Committee meeting on 17^th March, Cllrs were informed that the awaited KC opinion had arrived and that it would be published shortly.  The legal opinion, jointly commissioned by Somerset Council and Cllr Hobhouse, sought to clarify the position on the extent to which Wessex Water’s investment in WwTW upgrades and associated headroom can be relied upon as mitigation, for the purposes of undertaking an ‘appropriate assessment’ under the Habitat Regulations.  The recording of the meeting and a copy of the legal opinion will be published shortly.  Officers are working through the next steps and collating the evidence required, as advised in the opinion.  At the current time it remains necessary for impacted developments to demonstrate nutrient neutrality and secure the required phosphate mitigation in order to secure planning permission.

In terms of legal resource the Council has secured additional external support to assist with progressing s106 agreements and other legal matters.  However please be aware that this alone will not resolve the Council’s five-year housing land supply position.  The Government’s new standard method, published in December 2024, has resulted in a 41% uplift in Somerset’s housing requirement and this is now a major factor impacting on Somerset’s ability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. The Council is working on a new Somerset wide Local Plan to identify sufficient sites to meet the new housing requirement.  It is a high priority of the Council to get a Local Plan adopted as soon as possible so that we can have up to date policies and demonstrate a five-year housing land supply to reduce the risk of speculative housing development.  The production of a Local Plan must follow defined stages as set out by legislation, must be informed by a wealth of evidence base studies and involve statutory consultation and engagement.  Nationally Local Plans take an average of 7 years to produce, and Somerset Council is not unique in facing this challenge and shortfall in five-year housing land supply.

In the absence of an up-to-date Local Plan, a Council’s five year housing land supply position is also impacted by starts and completion rates on sites. Councils have very limited ability to influence these.  Housing completions and starts on site are dropping nationally due to a number of factors including high borrowing costs, market uncertainty, increasing construction costs and labour and skills shortages.  In Somerset and other areas nationally, the high cost of delivering supporting infrastructure (new schools, transport improvements, health contributions and community facilities) and other environmental obligations (such as BNG and nutrient mitigation), are also impacting the viability of sites and delaying the determination of sites.  Uncertainty on the availability of affordable housing grant and securing housing association partners also impact on site delivery, as many developers rely on affordable housing delivery (particularly on large scale sites) to assist with cashflow and derisking site delivery.  All of these issues impact on the Council’s ability to meet its housing requirement and demonstrate a five year housing land supply.