Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed councillors and the public to the meeting and said the meeting had been convened to consider the Draft Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation item as set-out in the agenda. He said he would be exercising his full rights as a district councillor and would be participating in the vote on this important matter.

The Chair invited the Monitoring Officer to provide guidance on declarations of interest in respect of Draft Local Plan Regulation 18 decision. This guidance has been appended to these minutes.

The Chair had agreed to extend public speaking to 30 minutes due to the extraordinary nature of the meeting. The following members of the public addressed Council; their statements have been appended to these minutes.

·        J Johnson

·        A Evans

·        H Johnson

·        B Critchley

·        A Ketteridge

·        Councillor J Cheetham (Takeley Parish Council)

·        M Marriage

·        E Gildea

·        S Merifield

·       P Barber

·        Councillor G Bagnall (Uttlesford District Council)

The Chair said a number of written responses had been circulated with members prior to the meeting. Their statements have been appended to these minutes for the purposes of the public record.

·       Mr and Mrs Fish

·       Mr and Mrs Silvester

·       M Ireland

·       D Brett

·       Dr Z Voysey

·       M O'Reily

·       R Jones

·       Mr & Mrs Colocasidou

·       Mr & Mrs Knight

·       Mr Tracey

·       C Blades

·       D Spragg,

·       Mr and Mrs Taylor

To receive any apologies and declarations of interest.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Silcock and Regan.

Councillor Haynes declared a non–registrable interest in respect of Item 2 as he was a beneficiary and executor of a property in Takeley which was 75 meters from a site. He said he would not be recusing himself from the meeting.

In response to a question from Councillor Coletta regarding living 500 meters from a site, the Monitoring Officer said he did not have an interest as the distance was over 150 meters.

Councillor Barker declared an other registrable interest in respect of Item 2 as she was an Essex County Councillor. The Monitoring Officer had granted her dispensation and would be participating in the meeting.

Councillors Foley and Gooding declared an other registrable interest in respect of Item 2 as they were Essex County Councillors. Both said they had had no dealings with the Local Plan processes at county level and would be participating in the meeting.

Councillor Criscione declared a non registrable interest as he worked for PP Comms Ltd (trading as Meeting Place), a communications advisory company working in the development sector, which had clients in Uttlesford. However, he had not and would not work on any promotion sites in the district and would be participating in the meeting.

Councillor Martin said he lived in Little Canfield and would be participating in the meeting.

Councillor Evans said he had previously declared that there had been sites adjacent to his property in the ‘Call for Sites’ process but they had not been included in the draft Local Plan for Regulation 18. He said this did not amount to a non-registrable interest.

To consider the Draft Uttlesford Local Plan 2021 – 2041 for (Regulation 18) Consultation.  

Councillor Evans presented the report on Uttlesford’s draft Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation. He said the district desperately needed an updated Local Plan, with the previous Local Plan being adopted in 2005, making it one of the oldest in the country. He said it was time to get on with this overdue task as the consequences were one of continued speculative development in the district. He said the decision tonight was for the draft Local Plan to advance to the consultation step of the process, after which public responses would be considered by the Local Plan Leadership Group (LPLG). This would lead to changes to the draft Local Plan which would be considered by Council at the Regulation 19 stage of the process. He proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Lees seconded the proposal and reserved the right to speak.

The Chair invited members to open the debate.

Councillor Barker said the settlement definitions included in the Plan, such as what constituted a small or large village, were ambiguous and it was unclear how each settlement had been categorised. She asked why the Countryside Protection Zone (CPZ) area was being proposed for development. Furthermore, a quarter of the housing allocations could fall away between now and the Regulation 19 decision; therefore, there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding how the draft Local Plan would progress.

Councillor Sell said there had not been enough member engagement throughout the process but residents deserved a Local Plan. He said whilst the document was not perfect, the draft Local Plan needed to be approved for Regulation 18 consultation in order for the public to have their say. He said he and the Liberal Democrat Group had concerns regarding the percentage of affordable housing prescribed in the policy, which would decrease from 40% to 35% in the emerging Local Plan, and that the LPLG needed to meet more often in public for the next stage in the process.

Councillor Pavitt said as Vice-Chair of the LPLG that the draft Local Plan had been subjected to the proper process and that the vote before members tonight was not to approve the Local Plan, but to give the public an opportunity to comment on the proposals. He said that individuals who were currently opposed to the draft Plan would have an opportunity to lodge an official response by way of the Regulation 18 consultation. Members would have another opportunity to vote against the draft Local Plan at the Regulation 19 if they felt it was not fit for purpose. He urged Council to support the recommendation as they did not have the luxury of time and the draft Local Plan needed to be progressed.  

 Councillor Martin left the meeting at 8.19pm and returned at 8.21pm.

Councillor Alex Reeve commended the document and said the Local Plan was a chance to get things right in Uttlesford and protect against speculative development. He said the draft Local Plan was sympathetic to the district’s character, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item C56