Agenda item

To note the Infrastructure Delivery Plan – Baseline Report.

The Local Plan and New Communities Manager presented the report, he said that it looked at the existing infrastructure in and around the district. 

He said the main issues in the report were on page 249 and highlighted the following: -

·         The rural nature of the district led to more private car journeys and the Local Plan needed to identify alternatives where possible.

·         Neighbouring plans, growth corridors and plans from other Infrastructure providers should be considered in and around the district. 

·         There was significant pressure on education especially at a Primary level.

·         The lack of alternative open spaces put pressure on Hatfield Forest.

·         There was a need to provide for net biodiversity gain.

·         GP practices were at capacity.

·         The need to assist water providers to plan for their developments in a water stressed area.

·         Increase in electricity use – especially in terms of electric cars.

He said the next Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) would look at the need for and timing of new infrastructure provision and funding strategies as the Local Plan developed.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Interim Director of Planning said that the growth of GP practices and schools would be dependent on the policies put in place.  She said that in other areas GP practices were forming larger combined practices and super surgeries.  She said that there would need to be an understanding of what GP surgeries needed in this district. 

Councillor Tayler said the situation with GP surgeries was complicated.  He said that they grew slowly but if there was a larger number of new residents there would be a need for new practices.  He said there was also a shortage of doctors, nurses, and GPs. 

Councillor Tayler said that the comments made in the report about the need for cycling infrastructure within the district, did not consider the rural nature of the roads which were narrow, and cars drove fast making it dangerous to cycle.  There was not an easy answer.

Councillor Lodge said there was an error on the base inventory which still had the Friends School Sports Hall and swimming pool which no longer existed and needed to be brought up to date. 

He said there was already spatial strategy work going on and the Local Plan team need to be involved.

Members were concerned that there was no planned increase to capacity of secondary schools within the report and Essex County Council’s 10 year plan. 

The Interim Director of Planning said that until a Local Plan was in place there would not be provision made in these plans. 

Councillor Caton said that he thought there needed to be some reality checking he raised the following points: -

·         The report said that Thaxted and Stansted libraries were closing but due to the public response this had been put off for at least 5 years.

·         Addenbrookes Hospital was mentioned but not Princess Alexander or Broomfields.

·         Stansted Surgeries now included the Stortford Fields development in Bishops Stortford.  The health care provisions were not necessarily within one district. 

Councillor Freeman said the Local Plan needed to be flexible, and he did not think this document provided a suitable infrastructure.

The Local Plans and New Communities Manager asked for Members to pass on factual errors within the report.

The Interim Director of Planning said that new development could not put right past problems and developers could only be asked to contribute to current relevant issues. 

She said that the lack of a Local Plan meant that the Council was not included in any forward programmes for water, education etc and there was a substantial backlog of issues.  She said the IDP looked at all infrastructure and once sites were identified it would consider the impact and infrastructure required.  This would establish what developers would pay for and what would come forward through Strategic Industrial Locations (SIL).  The remaining infrastructure projects would need to be paid for in other ways through applying for government funding.

She said that although the Local Plan set out the allocation of suitable sites for development, the applicant would still need to demonstrate it could be delivered without adverse impact to the infrastructure of the area. 

She said the IDP needed to identify everything and determine what was expected from developers, enabling them to know exactly what had to be paid for when buying from the land promoter.

The Chair said that there was a legacy of not having a Local Plan.  He said there needed to be session to discuss this further as the Local Plan developed.

The Local Plan and New Communities Manager said the IDP was a baseline picture of the existing situation, once sites were confirmed it would be clearer what was expected in terms of infrastructure.