Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director (Planning).

Officers presented the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) on the progress that had taken place in the Borough during the year between the 1st of April 2022 and the 31st of March 2023. The report contains a number of indicators to monitor progress including policy specific Local Plan indicators as well as more general indicators the report provides a valuable source of evidence which is used for monitoring against Local Plan targets as well as in planning appeals.

Members raised the following questions and points:

·        A member asked about the proportion of appeals increasing from 32% to 40% and if this had this been driven by the decisions of DMC or been driven by delegated decisions? Officers advised they will find this information and respond to Cllr Hellyer in due time. Officers clarified they don’t have the data highlighted in terms of the breakdown between DMC versus officer decisions, but, from experience the vast majority of cases that go to appeal would be officer decisions, lots of them being household applications which can be refused on design matters, but can be subjective and are sometimes allowed on appeal.

·        A member noted concerns around projections on the number of houses required within the Local Plan and whether they need to be revised.

·        Member also noted an observation on HO2 (page 38) and asked how much of the windfall allocation over 20 years of a Local Plan period had been built, as this may have a big impact on current local plan projections. Officer agreed with the observation and noted it will all be part of the context in terms of how we do that local plan review.

·        Member noted the figures around health and social well-being and deprivation within the borough and asked if officers expect these figures to have increased by the 2025 report. Officers advised it’s difficult to pre-empt the figures as they’re trend based.

·        Member asked if the consultation that took place on the Local Plan was effective in reaching hard to reach communities and underrepresented communities. Officers advised the reflection work needs to be done to discover lessons learned with this report and advised on intentions to revisit the statement of community involvement to collate the data. 

·        Member asked how the Welwyn Garden City BID was monitored, the effectiveness of strategies to attract new business to the town centre and whether this data is monitored. Officers advised there was not imperial evidence at this stage but reflecting on the events held and positive feedback from businesses and the public it would indicate the footfall has certainly increased.

·        Member noted concern around falling behind with building what the borough needs as 37% builds were studio and one-bedroom flats and 11% being three-bedroom homes. Officers advised the projects coming from office to residential re-developments produces 1-2 bedroom flats, it was hoped that the borough will see more traditional houses on the sites that have been released from the Green Belt.

·        Member asked if the officers were in contact with landlords that don't live in the area to make them aware of their obligations with regards to shops. Officers advised if shops are in private ownership the role of the Council is to encourage and engage good dialogue, as opposed to enforcement based as the Councils influence is limited.

·        Member asked if the expected growth in housing was being accounted for when projecting the population figures. Officers advised this will be looked at in detail through commissioned pieces of work and was a key consideration and will be brought for discussion to future meetings.

RESOLVED

(Unanimous)

The Panel recommended to Cabinet that the AML be approved for publication and that the Assistant Director Planning be given delegated authority to agree any minor alterations to finalise the AMR, following the consultation with the Executive Member for Planning.