Agenda item

To receive details of the approach being taken with the Local Plan and the Statement of Community Involvement.

Members received a presentation on the development of a Local Plan and the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) that was currently being developed which highlighted:

§  That the SCI was a high- level document setting out how the Local Planning Authority would engage and consult with the community and stakeholders on planning matters.

§  That it covered both engagement on planning policy and the determination of planning applications

§  There was a need for a new SCI to replace the existing 5 District and County SCIs with a consistent approach on engaging with communities on planning matters.

§  The consultation undertaken and the main changes made following that consultation.

§  The Council’s legal requirement to produce a Local Plan within 5 years of vesting day (by 1^st April 2028).

§  The Local Plan timetable and the factors that might affect it.

§  That the Local Plan was produced as a sperate work strand from the Minerals and Waste Plan reviews.

§  The Local Plan was a key document that would help delivery the Council’s Climate Emergency Strategy.

§  A separate climate change Development Plan Document (DPD) had been considered but was not being recommended because:

·         It would divert resources away from the Local Plan significantly impacting the Local Plan timetable and the failure to deliver a plan on time could result in Government intervention.

·         Any delay would mean there would be a longer time without an up-to-date local plan resulting in an increase of ‘planning by appeal’; reduced ability to deliver on other Council aspirations; and reduced chance of success in bidding for Government funding for projects’

·         Considering climate change policies strategically within a Local Plan would ensure they were deliverable together with affordable housing and infrastructure requirements

·         A DPD may not get policies in place any sooner as it would still have to follow the same production stages as a Local Plan.

·         The setting up of a Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee of the Executive was being proposed to oversee and monitor on behalf of the Council the review of the Development Plan.

In response to questions from the Committee it was explained that:

§  Whilst the statutory requirement in relation to site notices and neighbour notifications for planning applications was usually either one or the other, in practice, quite often both methods were used. Written clarification on the statutory requirements would be provided to the relevant councillor.

§  The current different inherited Community Infrastructure Levy charging systems would have to be reviewed, particularly in response to national reforms.

§  The new Local Plan would have a lifetime of possibly 20 years.

§  That under paragraph 19 (page 68 of the agenda pack) there was a typographical error in the penultimate sentence and that ‘for’ should be replaced with ‘beyond’ to read Given the need to bring forward a Somerset-wide development plan, a wider exercise beyond the East area (e.g. more housing or review of strategic policies) is neither warranted or justified.

§  That the Lead Member for the Environment and Climate Change would be a member of the Planning and Transport Policy Sub-Committee.

§  The final report would clarify the rules under which the Sub-Committee would operate, the cross party engagement and how its decisions would be scrutinised.

The Committee felt that it was important to continue the current practice of serving both site notices and adjacent neighbour notifications and that 3.24 of the SCI be amended to clarify this.

Members believed that climate change policies should be a priority and that rather than waiting for 5 years for completion of the Local plan there was a need for a separate Climate Change DPD that could be come into effect before this. Particularly as lessons could be learnt from work already done by other authorities such as Bath & North East Somerset, Cornwall and Warwick.

Resolved

To recommend to the Executive:

1.     That under the Pre-Applicant stage, paragraph 3.10 of the Statement of Community Involvement should be amended to encourage applicants to consult with their neighbours.

2.    That the Council should continue to serve both site notices and adjacent neighbour notifications and that the wording of 3.24 of the Statement of Community Involvement be amended to reflect this. The wording of the recommendation to the Executive to be delegated to the Executive Director – Climate & Place in consultation with the Chair and circulated to the Committee.

3.    That a Climate Change Development Plan Document be created to advance the Council’s climate emergency objectives, in particular zero carbon energy standards, new developments and renewable energy generation siting. To be separate from the Local Plan and to an earlier time scale to reflect the climate emergency declaration.