Agenda and minutes

To note any substitution of Panel Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

The following substitution of Committee Members had been made in accordance with Council Procedure Rule:

Councillor S. Kasumu for Councillor S. Boulton

Councillor J. Weston for Councillor M. Holloway

Apologies of absence were received from Councillors S. Boulton and M. Holloway.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2022 (previously circulated).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2022 were approved as a correct record.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on this Agenda.

Councillor S. Thusu declared a non-pecuniary interest in items on the agenda as appropriate by virtue of being a Member of Hertfordshire County Council.

Up to thirty minutes will be made available for questions from members of the public on issues relating to the work of the Committee and to receive any petitions.

Five questions were received from the public. The Chair gave responses to all.

The following question was received from Paul Taylor:

“I ask members of the Council Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel to consider reinstating the planning capacity of the Shredded Wheat site to ‘1,403 dwelling equivalents’, per the extant planning approval granted in 2019.

I ask this because significant, incorrect information was provided by the Planning Department to Council members before Council members originally decided to include ‘2,003 dwelling equivalents’ as the capacity for this site for the purposes of the emerging Local Plan.

Before making their decision on the 2,003 dwelling equivalents at the Shredded Wheat site, Council members had been provided with the Planning Department’s “Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment, December 2020”, which stated on page 4, “…it is considered that an increase of a single storey/approximately 600 dwellings (resulting in a total of 2,003 dwelling equivalent on site) would not have a significant impact on the heritage assets in this location.”  I attach a copy of this report.

Council members duly endorsed this figure of 2,003 dwelling equivalent, but the Planning Department’s statement was wrong at the time it was written.

The 2019 planning approval for the Shredded Wheat site permitted 1,454 units in 10 blocks with an average height of 8 storeys, so the average number of units per storey was 182. No lawful amount of reduction in bedrooms per dwelling or in room sizes could have possibly created 600 extra units from ‘a single storey’. It was physically impossible.

So, the critical sentence in the HELAA 2020 statement was wrong from the beginning, and this has been borne out by subsequent events:

1.             At the Shredded Wheat “North Site”, the 2019 planning approval permitted 811 units in four blocks ranging between 7-8 storeys, with a few isolated ‘turrets’ rising to 9 stories. In its 2021 application, the developer applied to build 1,220 units in blocks typically increasing by at least two storeys and with much greater use of the upper storeys.

2.             At the Shredded Wheat “South Site”, the 2019 planning approval permitted 643 units in six blocks ranging between 7-8 storeys and MTVH’s 2021 application sought to increase this to 929 units by adding between two and three storeys to four of the six blocks to reach 10 storeys.

So, the truth is, that to achieve ‘2,003 dwelling equivalents’, the site needed between two and three extra storeys and a major amount of upper-storey infill, i.e., extending the size of the upper storeys from very small areas (I’d call them turrets) to become major storeys.

The advice from the Planning Department that “an increase of a single storey/approximately 600 dwellings (resulting in a total of 2,003 dwelling equivalent on site)” was wrong when it was written, and I believe Council members were incorrectly advised. For this reason, I ask the Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel to revert to the previous planning capacity of the Shredded Wheat site of ‘1,403 dwelling equivalents’, in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Report of the Assistant Director (Planning) on the Local Plan – Inspector’s letter and proposed modifcations to the Plan.

Report of the Assistant Director (Planning) on Members received a presentation which set out the background to the Local Plan including the key stages and consultation; the Council’s January 2022 Strategy and the Inspector’s response; the housing requirement; performance of the January 2022 housing against the requirement(s); the additional sites required to meet the housing requirement; timetable and next steps; and, considerations.

The Inspector had advised that the Local Plan requirement of 15,200 was still appropriate.  He had advised an approach based on identifying sites for the year period following adoption could be sound with a commitment to a review, to be undertaken in the context of housing need and national policy. The Inspector had advised that the plan can only move forward if the Council accepted the conclusions and carried out consultation on Main Modifications.  He had asked for the supply of housing to meet the requirements for the ten years post adoption, including the residual amount not achieved between 2016-22. 

Additional dwellings were required to be allocated from sites considered by the Inspector.  The presentation set out options to meet the housing need while meeting the Inspectors tests.

Recommendation 1:

Consider the implication of different approaches to managing the shortfall over the remaining plan period set out in the report and the appendices.

Recommendation 2:

Agree to recommend to Cabinet and Council that the additional sites set out in Table 6 of the report (and the updated site capacity of the January 2022 Member agreed sites, Appendix A Table 1) and which offers the best opportunity for reaching a sound plan be submitted to the examination as modifications to the Local Plan, and;

Recommendation 3:

Recommend to Cabinet and Council that public consultation take place on Main Modifications to the Local Plan at the earliest opportunity once the Inspector has confirmed the content of the Main Modifications required to make the Plan sound.

If Members do not agree to recommendation 2 and 3 above

Recommendation 4:

Agree to recommend to Cabinet and Council that the additional sites set out in Table 4 of the report (and the updated site capacity of the January 2022 Member agreed sites, Appendix A Table 1) that responds to the relationship of the Full Objective Assessment of Housing Need to the Employment Strategy and the need for housing to be provided alongside new jobs.

Recommendation 5:

Members recommend to Cabinet and Full Council that public consultation take place on Main Modifications to the Local Plan at the earliest opportunity once the Inspector has confirmed the content of the Main Modifications required to make the Plan sound.

The following points were raised and discussed:

·       At a recent planning appeal it was noted that a lack of a 5-year housing supply was not a reason to approve a development.

·       Developments are built with the profits of the developers in mind, not the need of the local people.

·       The sites selected in Welham Green effectively surround the existing village; phasing could be introduced to minimise disruption  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.