Agenda for Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel on Thursday 14th December 2017, 7.30 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Campus East, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL8 6AE. View directions

Contact: G Paddan Email: democracy@welhat.gov.uk 01707 357349 

Items
No. Item

23.

SUBSTITUTIONS

To note any substitution of Panel Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 19 – 22.

 

 

Minutes:

The following substitution of Panel Member had been made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 19-22:-

 

Councillor H. Beckett for G. Hayes

24.

APOLOGIES

To note apologies.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G. Hayes and P Shah.

25.

MINUTES

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2017 (previously circulated).

 

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

26.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY MEMBERS

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

 

 

Minutes:

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

 

27.

PARKING SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) which provides information on parking services for 2016/17.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services), which provided information on parking services for 2016/17.  The report included specific information regarding the financial and penalty charges as well as statistics relating to appeals, this being provided by a third party, the Traffic Parking Tribunal (TPT).  It was noted that in recent years the TPT had not provided the required information within a reasonable timescale.  Therefore, Parking Services had produced this year’s report without the above information.  Members were advised that the relevant statistics would be added to the website once released by TPT.

 

The Parking Services Statistical Information 2016/17 showed the number of parking tickets (PCNs) issued in Welwyn Hatfield since 2011.  It was noted that there had been an increase in the number of parking tickets issued but no particular area had been identified.

 

It was noted that sufficient parking be provided whilst the work is being carried out. To help the public and businesses it was agreed that information be provided in the Life Magazine in October 2018.

 

RESOLVED:

 

            That the Panel notes the Parking Services Annual Report 2016/17.

 

28.

MULTI-STOREY CAR PARK, THE COMMON - HATFIELD PARKING STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 113 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) which seeks planning approval for the construction of a multi-storey car park (MSCP) in The Common, Hatfield.  This will release other sites within the town centre which have been highlighted as development opportunities by the multi-agency Visioning group as part of the Hatfield 2030+ project.

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) on the Multi-storey car park, The Common was considered.  The Council had added a project to the Capital work programme to seek planning approval for the construction of a multi-storey car park (MSCP) in The Common, Hatfield.  This would release other sites within the town centre which have been highlighted as development opportunities by the multi-agency Visioning Group as part of the Hatfield 20130+ project.

 

The sites which have been highlighted were mainly surface car parks and the creation of the MSCP would enable these to be developed.  To minimise displacement during construction, a temporary upper deck would be installed in Lemsford Road car park which would provide up to 100 of the 148 parking spaces that would be temporarily lost from The Common car park.

 

The report noted that it was crucial to consult residents and businesses as early as possible to ensure parking restrictions were introduced in roads surround the town centre before the multi-storey car was operational to reduce the effect of any displacement.  It was noted that there were a number of private roads that have yet to be adopted by Hertfordshire County Count (HCC).  Restriction in neighbouring roads increases the likelihood of displacement of vehicles parking into these roads.  If it appears to materialise then the Council would need to consider any practical and legally allowable solutions to assist residents in these roads, especially if the solution cannot be a TRO.

 

The report noted that the Hatfield Central and East Wards were currently on the Parking Services work programme.  The work had already begun with the introduction of resident parking permit schemes in the Galleria area, the Ryde and Heyford Way.  Aldykes and surrounding roads as illustrated on the map attached to the report were not with Hatfield Central and East Wards.  Officers recommended that they should be included in the project due to their close proximity to the town centre.

 

            RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the Panel recommend to Cabinet the inclusion of the Aldykes (Appendix A) and surrounding roads within the scope of the project.

 

2.    That the Panel note the risks as indicated in 6.1 – 6.5 and recommend to Cabinet to proceed.

 

29.

LOCAL PLAN - ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT pdf icon PDF 196 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning & Governance) recommends approval of the Annual Monitoring Report for publication.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) which had a number of purposes, acting as a record of the how the Borough’s population and places were performing and how much development was taking place, assessing how that met the Council’s targets and sets out projections and expectations for future development and changes in the Borough’s population.  The 2016/17 AMR reports on the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. 

 

The main content of the AMR was set out across nine chapters.  A presentation was received and the main points raised and discussed were as follows:

 

  • The Borough’s population will increase during the year to 122,000.
  • The number of homes completed during the year was 509 – noted as being the highest number for a few years.
  • There has been 93 new affordable homes brought to the market during the year.  The difference between affordable homes and social housing was clarified.
  • Concern was expressed regarding office space being used for residential dwellings.

 

Officers were thanked for the excellent report.

 

RESOLVED:

           

a)    That the Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel recommends to Cabinet that the Annual Monitoring Report be approved for publication and that he Head of Planning be given delegated powers to agree any minor alterations to finalise the AMR following consultation with the Executive Member for Planning, Housing and Community.

 

b)    A copy of the report and presentation to be circulated Cabinet Housing Panel for information.

 

c)    A link to the report and presentation to be emailed to all Councillors for information.

 

30.

BROWNFIELD LAND REGISTER pdf icon PDF 134 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance), which sets out details on the sites included in the Council’s 2017 Brownfield Land Register.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) setting out how the Council intended to implement its requirement under the new legislation to publish a Brownfield Land Register by December 2017 and then at least one per year thereafter, including details on the technical Data Standard against which the Council is required to publish the Register.

 

The report detailed the sites included in the Council’s 2017 Brownfield Land Register.  No sites had been included on Part 2 of the Register this year, meaning that ‘Permission in Principle’ has not been granted to any site.  At this stage the Brownfield Land Register for Welwyn Hatfield remains purely a means of providing information about land availability in the Borough.

 

Officers explained that the new mechanism to increase the supply of housing was ‘Permission in Principle’ (PiP).  This allows the principle of development on the site to be established without the need for the level of detail and evidence normally required when granting a conventional outline of full planning permission. 

 

A list of the sites on the Register, alongside basic information was included as Appendix 1 to the report, because of the data standard’s requirements to publish the BLR as a spreadsheet with a significant number of columns it was not possible to provide in the format where it would be legible on paper.  The full BLR can be viewed on at www.welhat.gov.uk/brownfieldland.

 

            RESOLVED

 

That the Panel notes the quantum of sites and dwelling capacity on the 2017 Brownfield Land Register and that the Register will now be formally published on the Council’s website.

 

 

 

 

31.

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY PRELIMINARY DRAFT CHARGING SCHEDULE CONSULTATION pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is a locally set planning charge that local authorities can choose to implement to raise contributions from new housing and other development towards the delivery of necessary supporting infrastructure.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is a locally set planning charge that local authorities can choose to implement to raise contributions from new housing and other development towards the delivery of necessary supporting infrastructure.  In order to implement CIL the Council needs to follow a series of steps set out in the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended).

 

The report noted that the Council consulted on a CIL Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule from 15 May 2017 to 26 June 2017 and comments were invited.  There had been a total of 39 responses and the main issues raised together with changed sought were summarised in Appendix 1 attached to the report.  The CIL timetable is required to co-ordinate with the Local Plan timetable and no firm dates for progress on CIL have been proposed at present but these would be the subject of a further report to this Panel in due course.

 

Members expressed concern in respect of how the money would be distributed between projects by the County Council and the Borough.  Officers advised that regulations would be looked into.

 

            RESOLVED

 

a)    That the Panel notes the response received to the recent consultation on the Welwyn Hatfield CIL Preliminary Draft charging Schedule.

 

b)    That this Panel agrees the proposed next steps and that the timetable for progressing the Welwyn Hatfield CIL should be developed to co-ordinate with the Local Plan timetable.

 

32.

RESPONSE TO DACORUM BOROUGH COUNCIL'S LOCAL PLAN ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION pdf icon PDF 147 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) asks the Panel to consider and agree the proposed response to the Dacorum Borough Council Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation (2017) as set out in Appendix A.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance setting out the proposed response to the Dacorum Borough Council (DBC) Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation.

 

Dacorum Borough Council had published their Local Plan; Issues and Options document for consultation between 1 November and 13 December.  This will replace their Core Strategy; adopted 2013.  The DBC Local Plan will cover the period between 2013 and 2036.  It has been informed by an evidence base which includes a Strategic Housing Market Assessment (2016), a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (2016) and Sustainability Appraisal working notes for options in the Draft Plan and Schedule of sites (2017) etc.  DBC intend to commission work for a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, a Joint Traveller Needs Assessment, Transport Modelling Studies, Retail and Leisure Needs Study.  Other evidence; such as the Infrastructure Delivery Plan, sustainability Appraisal and the work relating to the identification of sites would be updated as the Plan progresses.

 

The report identified the strategic issues which arose from the consultation and summarised the proposed response and this included the homes and jobs needed in areas.  WHBC had requested that DBC should consider assisting this Council to meet the unmet housing needs arising from the housing target in the submitted Local Plan.

 

Officers advised that DBC had ruled out the option of a new settlement too early and that smaller more sustainable ones for new settlements should be explored there is the potential to establish good transport links to towns.

 

            RESOLVED

 

That the proposed response to the Dacorum Borough Council’s Issues and Options consultation (2017) as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved.

 

33.

RESPONSE TO BROXBOURNE BOROUGH COUNCIL REGULATION 19 LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION pdf icon PDF 302 KB

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) which sets out proposed response to the Broxbourne Borough Council Local Plan Pre-submission Consultation 2017.

 

Minutes:

Report on the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on Broxbourne Borough Council’s (BBC) Local Plan Pre-Submission document 2017.  Consultation took place on a draft Broxbourne Local Plan in 2016.  Welwyn Hatfield made a number of comments; expressing support in a number of areas and concern in others relating to proposals for Brookfield riverside, the approach to employment, the plan period length, infrastructure deliver, Gypsy and Traveller provision and concerns relating to the evidence around the selection of sites.

 

Members raised the issue of congestion on the A10 and the Brookfield shopping centre as part of the infrastructure and retail proposals.  The proposed response as set out in the report was considered and it was agreed that the concerns raised be strengthened.

 

            RESOLVED

 

a)    That the proposed response to the Broxbourne Borough Council’s Local Plan Pre-submission Consultation 2017, as set out in section 3 of the report be approved together with any further issues that Members wish to include in the Council’s response.

 

b)    That the Head of Planning, in consultation with the Executive Member (Planning, Housing and Community) be authorised to agree the Council’s final response.

 

Meeting ended at 9pm

GP