Agenda and minutes

To note any substitution of Members made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 19-22.

To note apologies.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2016 (previously circulated).

Report of the Director (Governance).

Report of Director (Governance).

Report of the Director (Governance).

Report of the Director (Governance).

Report of the Director (Governance).

Report of the Director (Governance).

The report of the Director (Governance) informed the Committee that the Government’s technical consultation on the implementation of planning of planning changes had been published on 18 February closing on 15 April 2016 and followed on from the consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which had closed on 22 February.

It provided more detail than the previous consultation on the proposed approach to implementing the planning measures in the Housing and Planning Bill. The responses to this consultation would inform the detail in secondary legislation.

The Head of Planning informed the Committee that the Cabinet Housing and Planning Panel had commented as follows on the proposed responses to the consultation.

·         There was some concern regarding the loss of democratic control.

·         Permission in Principle was a foolish concept and could result in development being held up.

·         Allowing competition for planning applications could result in decisions being taken by outsiders who did not know the area.

·         Removing validations from the power of Planning Authorities could eventually result in fewer Planning Officers because as Junior Planners they would not gain the experience they needed to progress in their careers, thus resulting in too few Planning Officers being able to deal will larger applications.

·         Fees did not cover the cost of providing the service and the Council should be looking at ways to gain the power to set fees at a level to cover costs.

·         Introduction of registers could result in problems should anything not be registered correctly.

·         The Small Sites Register sounds like “garden grabbing” which was something that the Government had previously said they wanted to avoid.

The Panel had also asked officers to look into whether announcements in the recent Budget had negated some of the proposals and had requested Officers to strengthen the responses to the consultation to reflect the viewpoint that the proposals were not sound.     

RESOLVED

That the comments made by the Cabinet Housing and Planning Panel on the technical consultation on the implementation of planning changes be noted and that the Head of Planning had been authorised to agree the final response in consultation with the Executive Member for Planning, Housing and Community.