Agenda item

Councillor Pavitt said that he had undertaken a Water Survey in response to an urgent need to better understand the water supply and related issues in the district.  This had initially been suggested by Councillor Criscione as a Task and Finish Group for the Committee.  Councillor Pavitt said that new houses were being built but the sewage infrastructure had not been upgraded for 30 to 40 years and problems were arising, for example sewage flooding into the rivers.  He said there was a need to review the processes and mitigate these impacts by ensuring that future planning applications were properly and appropriately conditioned.  He recommended that the Committee asked Officers to take the draft from the Task and Finish Group and submit a reworked document to the Committee next month.

The Committee thanked Councillor Pavitt for his work and supported the Water Survey and his recommendation.  Councillor Evans agreed and said that the last Strategic Infrastructure Delivery Group (SIDG) meeting had covered water related matters but unfortunately Councillor Pavitt had not been free to attend.

The Chair read out a statement from Mr Ketteridge, who asked that the 16 larger sites that were being considered through the call to sites, within the Local Plan, were named.  He said it was important for transparency to have the involvement of the Town and Parish Council’s at an early stage.  

Councillor Evans said that these would be identified shortly but it was not possible to make them known at this stage.

The Local Plan and New Communities Manager said that a report would be taken to the Local Plan Leadership Group (LPLG) meeting in the next couple of weeks.

The Chair said that the sites needed to be named and that it was undemocratic to be having discussions without the knowledge of residents and Town and Parish Councils.

Councillor Sell agreed and said that Parishes were required to sign a confidentiality agreement and therefore there could be no issue.  He said there was a lot of concern within the community and residents had a right to know which sites were potentially being considered.

The Local Plan and New Communities Manager understood the concerns expressed but said that no decisions had been taken on sites they were working with developers on a without prejudice basis to the assessment of sites, and he said that not all sites would make it to the next stage.

In response to a question from Councillor Sell about when sites would be finalised, the Local Plan and New Communities Manager said that there was a defined process and a potential site selection would be produced for the November LPLG meeting.  The final sites would not be known until the draft Local Plan was decided upon early in the New Year.

The Chair said he was disappointed with the lack of transparency he said the disclosure of the sites should include early discussions with developers but needed to also involve local residents.

Councillor Evans said that democratic input would be provided at the LPLG meeting and would be apparent after the technical consultation in October.  He said this was an early opportunity to speak to developers and landowners and for them to understand what the Council expected from them.  This would then be brought together in a coordinated way to the LPLG.

Councillor Isham said that the local community needed to be part of the discussion and included in the technical consultation.

The Chair said there was no doubt of the view of the Committee, he looked forward to the paper going to LPLG later this month.