Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Bill Revans, who was subsitited by Councillor Liz Leyshorn and Councillor Dixie Darch who was substituted by Councillor Sarah Wakefield.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee held on 23 May 24 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’.

A public question was raised by George Hitchins. 

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

To review the report.

Councillor Richard Wilkins proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Liz Leyshon. 

Having been duly proposed and seconded, the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee RESOLVED to: -

A)    Note the responses made to the Limited Update Regulation 18 consultation document as summarised in the Consultation Statement in Appendix 1 and changes proposed to support technical and other documents.   

B)    Agree the Sustainability Appraisal and compliance reports appended to this document. 

C)    Agree the Mendip Local Plan Part II Limited Update (submission version) at Appendix 2 and that this was published for a period of six weeks from 28 June 2024 to 9.00am on 12 August 2024 in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. 

D)    Agree that any changes necessary to the publication documents following this meeting were delegated to the Head of Planning in conjunction with the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets in order to expedite the Regulation 19 publication stage and submission.  

E)    Agree that following the conclusion of the Regulation 19 publication period, the Limited Update be submitted to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination under section 20 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, together with the submission documents prescribed by Regulation 22 of the 2012 Regulations (including representations received relating to legal compliance and soundness) before 30 September 2024. 

F)    Agree that officers provide updates to this Committee on progress to submission and the examination stages of the Limited Update. 

The Principal Planning Policy Officer, Andre Sestini, introduced the report for Mendip Local Plan Part II Site Allocations Review - Reg 19 publication version. This report summarised the responses made to the Limited Update Regulation 18 consultation document which was agreed by this Committee on 14 February 2024. The report recommended agreement to a submission version of the Limited Update and that following the publication period, these were submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for Independent Examination, alongside representations received from interested parties. Representations made at this stage in the process could only relate to legal compliance or soundness.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:

·       The Committee thanked the team for the hard work on the Plan, which included meeting the tight submission deadline and working with local councillors throughout the process.

·       Councillors queried the date of the current hearing and were advised that it was likely to be in early 2025.

·       Concern was raised on the potential change in legislation that could occur under new government and the risk of impact on the plan.

·       The Committee queried the differing in size of the sites and the number of dwellings per site.

·       Councillors queried the margin for leeway within the target number of houses built.

·       Councillors queried the completion date of 2029 and the level of housing completion that needed to happen to comply with the date.

·       Councillors highlighted an error on the Risk Assessment which showed a Risk Score being 20, and that this should be corrected to 16.

·       The Committee were concerned in regard to the phosphate mitigation plan, and assurance was given by Andre Sestini, Principal Planning Policy Officer.

Councillor Richard Wilkins proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Liz Leyshon. 

Having been duly proposed and seconded, the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee RESOLVED to: -

A.    Note the responses made to the Limited Update Regulation 18 consultation document as summarised in the Consultation Statement in Appendix 1 and changes proposed to support technical and other documents.   

B.    Agree the Sustainability Appraisal and compliance reports appended to this document. 

C.   Agree the Mendip Local Plan Part II Limited Update (submission version) at Appendix 2 and that this was published for a period of six weeks from 28 June 2024 to 9.00am on 12 August 2024 in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. 

D.   Agree that any changes necessary to the publication documents following this meeting were delegated to the Head of Planning in conjunction with the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets in order to expedite the Regulation 19 publication stage and submission.  

E.    Agree that following the conclusion of the Regulation 19 publication period, the Limited Update be submitted to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination under section 20 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, together with the submission documents prescribed by Regulation 22 of the 2012 Regulations (including representations received relating to legal compliance and soundness) before 30  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To note forward plan.

The Head of Planning, Alison Blom Cooper, introduced the forward plan.

The sub-committee noted the following items due to be reported at the next meeting on Thursday 15 August 2024:

·       Puriton Neighbourhood Plan to be Made.

·       Local Transport Plan – draft for consultation

·       Taunton Waterways Strategy and Guidance

·       Outcome of the review of the Minerals Plan

The following items have been moved to the meeting of the sub-committee in October:

·       Cannington Neighbourhood Plan

·       CIL spending priorities report