Issue - meetings

Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Local Plan Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Document

Meeting: 04/10/2018 - Planning Policy Working Group (Item 4)

4 Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Local Plan Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Document pdf icon PDF 88 KB

To consider the Addendum of Focussed Changes to the Local Plan Regulation 19 Pre-Submission document.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report setting out further detail around an addendum of focussed changes to the Regulation 19 Local Plan.

 

The Chairman invited the Planning Policy Team Leader to introduce the report.

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader said the report recommended an Addendum of Focused Changes to the Regulation 19 Local Plan.  The Addendum contained changes to the plan covering three different issues.  In summary the issues were the elevated level of risk around the delivery of West of Braintree Garden Community following the letters from the Inspector at the North Essex Authorities examination, and the measures the Council would take if there were delivery issues around this site; the strategic policies for the purposes of Neighbourhood Planning; and further detail on the policy protection of European protected sites.

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader highlighted briefly the changes relating to West of Braintree.  He said officers recommended the plan should reflect an elevated level of risk around the delivery of this site, but were not recommending removing the site from the plan and allocating alternative sites in its place.  It was still considered a sustainable location for major development with a reasonable prospect of delivery on the site.

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader continued to speak to the report.  He said it was also recommended that if at a point in the future it became apparent West of Braintree was significantly delayed or was not deliverable, and that restricted the Council’s ability to meet its housing requirements, then an early review of the Local Plan should be taken.

 

At the request of the Chairman, the Director – Public Services gave an outline of the QC’s advice which the Council had obtained, and on which the focussed changes were based.

 

The Chairman said he was aware that Stebbing Parish Council representatives were present at this meeting, and that they had met with the Planning Policy Team Leader, and had found the explanation of Counsel’s advice on West of Braintree to be helpful.

 

The Planning Policy Team Leader said a paper had been tabled with an additional amendment to SP5, including reference to developers entering into a ‘Quality and Collaboration Partnership’ if there was a privately led arrangement.

 

He said in addition to the Addendum of Focussed Changes the report also noted the publication of two updates to the evidence base.  The first was an update to the Spatial Strategy Background Paper, to build upon the document that had been published in June.  The second was a review of the employment policies in the Regulation 19 Local Plan.  The review of employment policies included a number of suggested amendments to the plan.  Officers were not recommending these changes were incorporated, as they did not go to the soundness of the plan and would dilute the focus of the document.

 

At the request of the Chairman, the Planning Policy Team Leader explained why it was not possible to incorporate the new household projections into an update of the SHMA and Local Plan and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4