Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Vice-Chairman, Councillor Clive Smitheram was appointed Vice-Chairman for this meeting.

To take any questions from members of the the Public

Please note:  Members of the Public are requested to inform the Democratic Servicers Officer before the meeting begins if they wish to ask a verbal question to the Committee.

No questions were asked or had been submitted by members of the Public.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 17 September 2015 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 17 September 2015 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on the agenda.

The Site Allocations Policies Document identifies and allocates the land needed to: deliver our Green Infrastructure and Heritage Assets Strategies; meet our future commercial needs; secure key pieces of community infrastructure; and deliver the Kiln Lane Link.

Following public consultation, a draft version of the Site Allocations Policies Document has been prepared for the purposes of further public consultation prior to Submission to the Secretary of State for examination.

The Committee was asked to consider the Site Allocations Policies Document Pre-Submission Draft, and subject to any amendments or additions, it be approved for a six week public consultation during Winter 2015, and that following the conclusion of the consultation, the document be submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public.

It was noted that the Council’s Site Allocations Policies Document identified and allocated the land needed to: deliver the Borough’s Green Infrastructure and Heritage Assets Strategies; meet the Borough’s future commercial needs; secure key pieces of community infrastructure; and deliver the Kiln Lane Link.  By facilitating the development of these sites the Council would meet many of the strategic objectives set out in the Core Strategy. The Site Allocations Policies Document was principally comprised of new policies that identified and allocated sites either in their existing uses or for comprehensive redevelopment for the uses specified above.  In addition to these site specific policies, this document also sets out the Council’s Spatial Strategies for the Green Infrastructure and Heritage Asset networks.

Work on the Site Allocations Policies Document had been underway since 2007.  During that time the Council had sought comments from local communities on site allocation options.  The most recent of these being a consultation exercise that ran for ten weeks between October 2013 until January 2014.  The consultation exercise also included a workshop session that was open to all Members.  The outputs from that consultation exercise and subsequent workshop session have informed the preparation of the Pre-Submission Draft.

Members discussed the document, when the following points were noted:-

·         Page 14 – footnote – “off-site” would replace “on-site”.

·         Page 15 – footnote – the Planning and Policy Sub-Committee was the predecessor of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee.

·         The preferred sites could come forward for consideration under Core Strategy Policy CS8. The primary purpose of such a supplementary planning document would be to underpin the Council’s housing trajectory contained within the Council’s Annual Monitoring Report, which demonstrated how the Council would deliver the current housing target.

·         Officers had prepared a Proposals Map that sets out the Council’s Green Infrastructure assets.

·         The Landscape Character Study (2015) had been prepared for the Surrey local authorities by Surrey County Council and was available on the Council’s website.

·         Green infrastructure was an important component of the local economy and by making a contribution to the Borough’s visual character and appearance it helped to attract new businesses. The Strategic Housing Assessment did take into account employment and commuting patterns.

·         The Key Diagram referred to in paragraph 2.14 would be amended to include the major highway network. It was pointed out that this additional work would result in a slight delay to the proposed consultation process.

·         The extent of the Longmead & Nonsuch Employment Areas was shown on the Proposals Map.

·         Out-of-centre retail facilities included Petrol Filling Stations that incorporated retail.

Accordingly, it was agreed that the Site Allocations Policies Document Pre-Submission Draft, subject to the amendments and comments set out above, be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The existing Sustainable Design Supplementary Planning Document was adopted in 2012 and forms part of the Local Plan. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the sustainable design measures and opportunities available to developers and householders.

It is now proposed to update the Document to take account of changes in national policy and guidance; in order to ensure that it remains focussed on the areas of sustainable design which planning policy can influence.

Prior to adoption the Document will be subject to a period of public consultation.

The Committee was asked to consider the Revised Sustainable Design Supplementary Planning Document Draft, and subject to any amendments or additions, it be approved for a six week public consultation during Winter 2015.

Subject to Members’ agreement and in accordance with the Regulations, the document would undergo a 6 week period of public consultation. This provided the Borough’s local communities and others with an interest in the planning system with an opportunity to influence the contents of the revised document.  It also provided necessary weight and defensibility to its contents; should the Council seek to challenge information submitted by applicants as part of a development proposal. Following the closure of the consultation period, any appropriate amendments would be made to the document and it would be brought before Licensing and Planning Policy Committee to be considered for adoption.

Members discussed the document, when the following points were noted:-

·         The purpose of url’s (links to web pages) in documents such as this was to facilitate on-line access to background information, although it was the intention to review the Council wide use of url’s.

·         A BREEAM assessment was a two stage process. The first part of the assessment was undertaken during the design stage, to indicate the likely score for the scheme. The second stage was undertaken post construction, and reviewed the design stage assessment to ensure all the specified issues had been implemented.

·         If the required standard had not been achieved at the construction stage, measures should be undertaken retrospectively to increase the BREEAM score until it met the required standard.

·         Page 75 – paragraph 4.5 – substitute “formally” for “formerly”.

·         Page 75 – paragraph 4.12 – add “and owner/occupier” at the end of the sentence.

The Committee thanked the officers for preparing the comprehensive and informative document, and agreed that the draft document, subject to the amendments and comments set out above, be approved for a six week public consultation during Winter 2015.