Agenda and minutes

No apologies of absence were received at the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel meeting held on the 05 June 2024.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel meeting held on the 05 June 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman made no announcements at the meeting.

To receive any 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.

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

No deputations were received at the meeting.

To receive an Executive report from the Director of Planning and Generation on the Consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before being considered by the Executive Member for Planning and Development.

The Panel received an Executive report from the Head of Planning on the Council’s suggested consultation response to the Government’s proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Since the consultation on the proposed reforms to the NPPF began on the 30 July 2024, officers have worked to fully understand the implications of the proposals for this Borough and have prepared the Council’s response.  

The Team Leader (Planning Strategy), supported by the Principal Planner (Strategy) presented the Executive report to the Panel highlighting the key areas of change and the potential implications of these changes for this Borough.  

Members raised considerable concern about the proposed changes to the standard method, which would substantially increase the number of houses the Borough will need to accommodate and would effectively impose the minimum number of houses the Borough must plan for. 

Members of the Panel were also very concerned at the requirement for all Council’s to demonstrate a five year housing land supply, irrespective of whether they have an up-to-date local plan or not. Such an approach would significantly undermine the plan-led system, which is the appropriate mechanism for determining the number of houses the Council needs to plan for, and the location for new development.

In addition to submitting a formal response to the consultation, it was recommended by the Panel that a letter should be sent by the Council to the Deputy Prime Minister, setting out the Council’s key observations on the proposed changes to the NPPF.

Members then discussed the suggested consultation response in detail. Members unanimously agreed with the responses, and suggested a small number of changes to them, elaborating further on the Council’s concerns (along with some minor typographical amendments). Table 1 below highlights these proposed changes:

RESOLVED that the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel: -

a)    note the contents of the Executive report attached at Appendix 1;

c)    ask the Executive Member for Planning and Development to consider the proposed changes in table 1 at the Executive Member Decision meeting on the 19 September 2024; and

b)     Suggest to the Executive Member for Planning and Development that a letter be sent from the Council to the Deputy Prime Minister setting out the Council’s key observations on the proposed changes to the NPPF.

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.

The Panel received the item of Executive Business that had been taken since the last meeting.

No questions or comments were received for this item.

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

Members were asked to consider the Scrutiny Priorities for the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel.

The Director of Planning and Regeneration addressed the Panel to explain that the priorities set out at the last meeting had not changed, although the NPPF consultation had impacted upon staff resource, and that the timescales for these work streams had been impacted.

It was agreed that officers would seek to confirm which items would be brought to the future meetings within this municipal year and that this would be circulated to Members of the Panel as soon as possible.

RESOLVED that the Panel considered the Scrutiny Priorities for the Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel.