Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies were received.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee held on 25 January 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Councillors present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor of a Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

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 and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

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’.

Public Questions were received from:-

·       John Winstone

·       Ian Hasel

·       Roy Bulgin

The questions and responses provided are attached to the minutes in Annex A.

To note the forward plan.

The Head of Planning, Alison Blom-Cooper, introduced the Forward Plan.

The following point was raised:-

·       The Nexis Local Development Order was to be added to the April meeting.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee noted the Forward Plan.

To agree a draft site allocations report for Regulation 18 consultation identifying sites to progress a limited update the Mendip Local Plan Part II. 

Resolved that The Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed the following:

a)    the draft site allocations consultation document in appendix 1 which identified the housing sites as directed in the High Court Order made on 16 December 2022 and varied on 14 July 2023.

b)    that the draft site allocations consultation document, environmental reports and supporting documents listed in this report were published for a six-week public consultation as soon as practicable but no later than 28th February 2024.

c)     that any minor changes necessary to the documents following this meeting and prior to the start of consultation were delegated to the Head of Planning for approval in order to expedite the consultation.

d)    noted the timescales for the review and that responses to the consultation and any final amendments were due to be reported to this Sub-Committee on 20 June 2024 to meet the amended timetable as proposed to the High Court.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer, Andre Sestini, introduced the report which provided a draft site allocations report for Regulation 18 consultation identifying sites to progress a limited update to the Mendip Local Plan Part II.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors thanked the public speakers for their comments.

·       Councillors requested clarification on which members had been included in the process.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised it was the members of the Planning East Committee.

·       Councillors queried where the hubs had been located.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that they had been held in libraries located in Street, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Wells and Frome.

·       Councillors highlighted that the consultation might provide alternative sites but that they would need to prove that they were deliverable.  They queried how that would be assessed.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that the summary gave a high-level sustainability appraisal and that they would adopt the same approach.

·       Councillors highlighted the calculations on the housing allocations and that they had used particular sites for this.  They queried whether the calculations were an optimistic or conservative estimate.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that they were being cautious in their estimates.

·       Councillors highlighted the complaint submitted to the planning inspector and the cost of the work carried out and the officer time spent on the works and queried whether the Council would receive any compensation.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that there was no option for applying for costs.

·       Councillors thanked the officers for all their hard work.

Resolved that The Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed the following:

a)    the draft site allocations consultation document in appendix 1 which identified the housing sites as directed in the High Court Order made on 16 December 2022 and varied on 14 July 2023.

b)    that the draft site allocations consultation document, environmental reports and supporting documents listed in this report were published for a six-week public consultation as soon as practicable but no later than 28th February 2024.

c)     that any minor changes necessary to the documents following this meeting and prior to the start of consultation were delegated to the Head of Planning for approval in order to expedite the consultation.

d)    noted the timescales for the review and that responses to the consultation and any final amendments were due to be reported to this Sub-Committee on 20 June 2024 to meet the amended timetable as proposed to the High Court.

To adopt the Ruishton and Thornfalcon Neighbourhood Plan.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed:

a)    That the Ruishton and Thornfalcon Neighbourhood Plan be ‘made’ (adopted) as part of the Development Plan and to be used in determining planning applications in the Neighbourhood Area which was the Parish of Ruishton and Thornfalcon.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer, Ann Rhodes, introduced the report which provided an update on the position following the referendum and that Somerset Council was required to formally make the Plan part of the development plan within eight weeks of the date on which the referendum has been held as a positive result was achieved.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors queried whether the heritage assets had been shared with the Southwest Heritage Trust.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that they had been shared.

·       Councillors praised the officers for the work carried out in the community on the Plan.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed:

a)    That the Ruishton and Thornfalcon Neighbourhood Plan be ‘made’ (adopted) as part of the Development Plan and to be used in determining planning applications in the Neighbourhood Area which was the Parish of Ruishton and Thornfalcon.

To adopt the Wells Neighbourhood Plan.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed:

a)    That the Wells Neighbourhood Plan be ‘made’ (adopted) as part of the Development Plan and to be used in determining planning applications in the Neighbourhood Area which was the Parish of Wells.

The Senior Planning Policy Officer, Jo Milling, introduced the report which provided an update on the position following the referendum and that Somerset Council was required to formally make the Plan part of the development plan within eight weeks of the date on which the referendum has been held as a positive result was achieved.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and the following point was raised:-

·       The Chair expressed her disappointment that it had not been made clear that the city of Wells had not been included as the Local Plan stated early in the process about geographical areas.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed:

a)    That the Wells Neighbourhood Plan be ‘made’ (adopted) as part of the Development Plan and to be used in determining planning applications in the Neighbourhood Area which was the Parish of Wells.

To adopt the Somerset BNG Guidance Note as a material planning consideration.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed the following:

a)    To adopt the Somerset BNG Guidance Note as a material planning consideration in the preparation of pre-application advice, assessing planning applications and any other development management purposes.

b)    To delegate approval of future updates to the Guidance Note as follows:

                        i.         Minor amendments including textual and visual changes and enhancements to be delegated to the Executive Director for Climate and Place in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets.

                       ii.         Updates relating to changes in national Government legislation and guidance, or the need to reference or update reference to other local or national evidence or strategy documents, or other changes which would not necessitate further public consultation to be delegated to the Executive Director for Climate and Place in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets.

                     iii.         More significant or substantive updates beyond those listed above to be brought back to this sub-committee for approval.

c)     To adopt the local BNG validation requirements as an addendum to existing adopted local validation checklists for each of the Local Planning Authority’s planning areas and functions (north, south, east, west and minerals and waste) until such time as these are updated and the requirements can be fully integrated.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer, Graeme Thompson, introduced the report which provided an update on the national mandatory requirement for developments granted planning permission to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for larger sites. The Council as Local Planning Authority must consider developer BNG proposals through the planning process. The Guidance Note sets out important information for how BNG would be implemented in Somerset and the processes involved.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors thanked the officers for the member briefings which they had found very useful.

·       Concern was raised on the risks on the resources of the Council and the viability.

·       Councillors welcomed the guidance on this statutory requirement.

·       Councillors highlighted that BNG was the beginning of a change and that it would become embedded in future processes and that it was already filtering down to Parish Councils.

·       Concern was raised on sites that were biodiversity stripped.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that degradation was dealt with as part of the legislation.  He further advised that if there was any habitat degradation, then it would be taken into account.

·       Concern was raised on seeing the guidance put into practice in the local areas and the impact on habitats due to time lag in replacing them.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer advised that BNG used habitat as a proxy for biodiversity, and as such species-specific measures such as bat or bird boxes did not contribute towards BNG, though may be required for other reasons.  The categories of habitat used by the Metric were area, hedge and water and that developers could not trade between the categories, they had to be replaced ‘like for like’.

·       Concern was raised on land banking.

·       Councillors were full of admiration for the officers who had worked on the guidance with tight timelines and limited information.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee agreed the following:

a)    To adopt the Somerset BNG Guidance Note as a material planning consideration in the preparation of pre-application advice, assessing planning applications and any other development management purposes.

b)    To delegate approval of future updates to the Guidance Note as follows:

                        i.         Minor amendments including textual and visual changes and enhancements to be delegated to the Executive Director for Climate and Place in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets.

                       ii.         Updates relating to changes in national Government legislation and guidance, or the need to reference or update reference to other local or national evidence or strategy documents, or other changes which would not necessitate further public consultation to be delegated to the Executive Director for Climate and Place in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets.

                     iii.         More significant or substantive updates beyond those listed above to be brought back to this sub-committee for approval.

c)     To adopt the local BNG validation requirements as an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To note the update report.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee noted the report.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer, Laura Higgins, introduced the report which provided an update on the progress of the Local Plan.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and the following point was raised:-

·       Councillors highlighted what actions would be needed over the next few years.

Resolved that the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee noted the report.