Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies of absence received at this meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel meeting held on the 21 January 2020.

It was AGREED that the Minutes of the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel held on the 21 January 2020 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman gave the following announcement –

I would like to take this opportunity to remind Members of the Panel that they must avoid discussions about specific planning applications on development sites whilst debating tonight’s agenda items.

Any specific discussion could be considered as being predetermined and could prohibit Members from commenting on applications at Planning Committee or at the Council meeting at a later date. The purpose of this Panel is to scrutinise the items and as appropriate provide comments to officers, and with regards to item 7 – Publication Local Plan, consider comments to pass to the Executive for consideration.

To receive and declarations of interest from Members in accordance with the 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.

There were no declarations of interest received at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

To receive a presentation from the Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development on the changes to the current planning system.

The Panel received a presentation from the Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development which provided an overview to Members on the proposals set out in the Governments consultation paper ‘Changes to the Current Planning System’.

The Director of Planning and Regeneration informed Members of the Panel that the deadline for the consultation responses was midnight on the day of the meeting. Authority has been delegated to him, in consultation with the Executive Member for Planning and Development to respond on behalf of the Council. The response will be circulated to all Members of the Panel for information.

RESOLVED that the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel noted the contents of the presentation.

To consider a report by the Director of Planning and Regeneration detailing the Council’s Draft Local Plan before consideration by the Executive.

The Panel received a report on the Publication (Regulation 19) Local Plan from the Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development.

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Panel received a representation from Councillor R H Price, JP during this item.

Members were asked to email any grammatical errors in the documents to officers to collate so that the discussion at tonight’s meeting could focus on the substantive part of the documents.

Members were taken through the covering report including Annex 1, the Executive report to be scrutinised by the Panel. Members inquired about the consultation and raised concerns regarding the challenge of Officers not being able to hold CAT meetings throughout the Borough to inform residents. Officers explained that sophisticated virtual software had been purchased to allow officers to communicate with public through the consultation process via a web-based platform. Many residents do not have access to any internet-based technology and although the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about an increase in online activity there are still residents who would not be able to access the website. As with previous consultations a dedicated Fareham Today will be delivered to every household to allow everyone to understand that the Local Plan consultation has begun and how they can have their say.

The Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development then directed Members to the numerous technical Appendices within the Local Plan document and asked for comments and questions where appropriate.

Members requested, during discussions on Appendix C - Sustainability Appraisal, that the Executive is asked to consider: -

       i.        the inclusion of specific text to strengthen policies to provide a clear expectation to developers/planning applicants that developments, whether residential or commercial, should provide the opportunity to upskill and train people.

The Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development then invited questions, comments or amendments from Members on each chapter of Appendix A - Draft text of the Publication (Regulation 19) Local Plan in turn.

When discussing Chapter 4, a proposal was raised to move forward to the next chapter of Appendix A over concerns that discussions regarding specific development sites could result in Members being predetermined at future Planning Committee meetings.

Upon being seconded the proposal was voted on and declared LOST.

Members discussed each chapter at length and agreed to ask the Executive to consider: -

      ii.        that on  Appendix A – page 53-54, paragraph 4.20, the list of Housing Allocation Policies to include ** denoting sites that are new and as yet to be decided by the Planning Committee to make it easier for residents to see this from the list of sites rather than going through each site in turn;

     iii.        that references to the Daedalus Airfield to be changed to Solent Airport to allow consistency across Council documents;

    iv.        whether it would be appropriate to add reference to a specific geographic zone around Solent Airport, within which housing proposals should be required to have a Noise Assessment to understand the potential impacts on future residents from the flight path;

      v.        reference to Policy TIN1 in Policy E5 should refer to all forms of transport, not just car parking;

    vi.        to include a policy statement, where appropriate, about the airport itself, including a statement along the lines of ‘unless it can be demonstrated that such uses are no longer financially viable’ (such as in Policy E6)

   vii.        that a survey of hedgerows on potential development sites to be carried out in order to strengthen their protection in line with Policy NE6;

  viii.        that the ramifications of excepting Policy TIN2a as it is.

RESOLVED that Members of the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel considered the contents of the report and ask the Executive to consider: -

      i.        within Appendix C - Sustainability Appraisal, the inclusion of specific text to strengthen policies to provide a clear expectation to developers/planning applicants that developments, whether residential or commercial, should provide the opportunity to upskill and train people.

    ii.        that on  Appendix A – page 53-54, paragraph 4.20, the list of Housing Allocation Policies to include ** denoting sites that are new and as yet to be decided by the Planning Committee to make it easier for residents to see this from the list of sites rather than going through each site in turn;

   iii.        that references to the Daedalus Airfield to be changed to Solent Airport to allow consistency across Council documents;

   iv.        whether it would be appropriate to add reference to a specific geographic zone around Solent Airport, within which housing proposals should be required to have a Noise Assessment to understand the potential impacts on future residents from the flight path;

    v.        reference to Policy TIN1 in Policy E5 should refer to all forms of transport, not just car parking;

   vi.        to include a policy statement, where appropriate, about the airport itself, including a statement along the lines of ‘unless it can be demonstrated that such uses are no longer financially viable’ (such as in Policy E6)

  vii.        that a survey of hedgerows on potential development sites to be carried out in order to strengthen their protection in line with Policy NE6; and

 viii.        the ramifications of excepting Policy TIN2a as it is.

To receive a presentation from the Head of Planning Strategy and Economic Development outlining details of the Governments White Paper – Planning for the Future.

At the agreement of the Chairman and all Members of the Panel this item was removed from the agenda and instead will be delivered to all Members of the Council by way of a Member Briefing.

To consider any items of business dealt with by the Executive since the last meeting of the Panel, that falls under the remit of Planning and Development Portfolio. This will include any decisions taken by individual Members during the same time period.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.

To provide an opportunity for Members to consider the scrutiny priorities for the Planning and Development Panel.

AGREED to be adjourned to the next meeting of the Panel.