Agenda and minutes

Apologies of absence were received from Councillors M J Ford, JP and Ms S Pankhurst.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Scrutiny Board meeting held on 14 September 2017.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Scrutiny Board meeting held on 14 September 2017 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman confirmed that this special Scrutiny Board had been convened to consider the Executive’s decision made on 9 October 2017 to approve:

(a)  that the Draft Local Plan, as set out in Appendix A to the report, comprises the component parts (as listed in the papers)

(b)  that the Draft Local Plan, as set out in Appendix A, and the Draft Policies Map, as set out in Appendix B, be published for a 6-week period of public consultation;

(c)  that the supporting documents appended to this report (Appendices C-E) be published for a 6-week period of public consultation, along with other supporting evidence documents;

(d)  that the Draft Local Plan will become a material consideration in the determination of planning applications, but that the weight attributed reflects the stage of preparation, the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies, and their degree of consistency with policies in the National Planning Policy Framework; and

(e)  that the Director of Planning and Regulation be authorised to make any necessary minor amendments to the Draft Local Plan and supporting documents appended to this report, prior to publication, provided these do not change their overall direction, shape or emphasis and following consultation with the Executive Member for Planning and Development.

The Chairman informed the Board that the decision has not yet been implemented because it has been called-in by 3 non-Executive members, as per the Council’s Constitutional arrangements.

The Chairman explained how the meeting would proceed. She confirmed that the deputations would be heard first. Councillors Price, JP and Mrs Trott would then be called upon to present the reasons they had given for the call-in. The Executive Member for Planning and Development would then be invited to explain how the recommendations on the Draft Local Plan were reached. This would then be followed by any specific questions to officers.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct and disclosures of advice or directions received from Group Leaders or Political Groups, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

In accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following Councillors declared the following interests below:

Councillor R H Price, JP declared a Pecuniary Interest in relation to site reference HA12 Moraunt Drive, Portchester as he owns and lives in the property next to the site. As this meeting was not dealing with specific sites identified within the Draft Local Plan, he remained in the room for the entirety of the meeting.

Councillor Mrs K K Trott declared a Personal (Non-Pecuniary) Interest in relation to site references HA8, HA16 and HA20 as she is a Council appointed representative on Wallington Village Community Association Executive Committee. She remained in the room for the entirety of the meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

The Board received deputations from Mrs Iris Grist, Mrs Christine Wilkinson and Mr Mike Higgins in relation to item 6 – Call-in of Executive Decision 2017/18: 1955 – Draft Local Plan, and were thanked accordingly.

A report by the Head of Democratic Services.

The Board considered a report by the Head of Democratic Services which outlined the reasons given for the call-in of the Executive Decision regarding the Draft Local Plan. A number of appendices were attached to the report to further assist the Scrutiny Board in its review of the decision. Appendix A provided a copy of the call-in notice which cited the grounds for the call-in as being:

i.              Unbalanced allocation across the Borough.

ii.            Infrastructure insufficient information of funding sources re CIL an S106 agreements.

iii.           Full sets of documents not available for consideration prior to the meeting on the 9 October 2017.

iv.           We have concerns with the wording on the individual allocation sheets within the proposed Draft Plan for consultation.

The Board received the deputations referred to in Minute 5 above.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor R H Price, JP, and Mrs K K Trott as representatives of the call-in, were invited to present the reasons they had given for the call-in. Before they addressed the Board they both declared the following interests:

Councillor R H Price, JP declared a Pecuniary Interest in relation to site reference HA12 Moraunt Drive, Portchester as he owns and lives in the property next to the site. As this meeting was not dealing with specific sites identified within the Draft Local Plan, he remained in the room for the entirety of the meeting.

Councillor Mrs K K Trott declared a Personal (Non-Pecuniary) Interest in relation to site references HA8, HA16 and HA20 as she is a Council appointed representative on Wallington Village Community Association Executive Committee. She remained in the room for the entirety of the meeting.

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Executive Member for Planning and Development, Councillor K D Evans, joined the meeting and was called upon to advise the Scrutiny Board of the process undertaken before making its recommendation to the Executive, and to address the specific points of the call-in notice. The Executive Member circulated to the Board a copy of a map showing a split between the sites identified in the Draft Local Plan Sustainability Appraisal between Portsmouth Housing Market Assessment area and Southampton Housing Market Assessment area (attached as Appendix A to these minutes). The Executive Member then answered questions put to him. In accordance with the Code of Conduct for Members, Councillor Evans then left the room and was not present for the remainder of the meeting.

The Director of Planning and Regulation answered questions put to him by Members of the Scrutiny Board.

The Chairman confirmed that having considered all the reasons given for the call-in, the Scrutiny Board now had to consider its options as set out the report, that being either:

(a)  to accept the decision made by the Executive, in which case the decision can be implemented; or

(b)  to request that the Executive reconsiders the decision, giving reasons for such a request.

A motion was proposed and seconded to accept the decision made by the Executive and to allow the decision to be implemented, which when being put to the vote was declared CARRIED.

(8 members voting in favour; 1 against (Councillor Cunningham)

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Board accept the decision made by the Executive and to allow the decision to be implemented to:

(a)  the Draft Local Plan, as set out in Appendix A to the report, comprises the component parts (as listed in the papers);

(b)  that the Draft Local Plan, as set out in Appendix A, and the Draft Policies map, as set out in Appendix B, be published for a 6-week period of public consultation;

(c)  that the supporting documents appended to this report (Appendices C-E) be published for a 6-week period of public consultation, along with other supporting evidence documents;

(d)  that the Draft Local Plan will become a material consideration in the determination of planning applications, but the weight attributed reflects the stage of preparation, the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies, and their degree of consistency with policies in the National Planning Policy Framework; and

(e)  that the Director of Planning and Regulation be authorised to make any necessary minor amendments to the Draft Local Plan and supporting documents appended to this report, prior to publication, provided these do not change their overall direction, shape or emphasis and following consultation with Executive Member for Planning and Development.