Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Epsom Town Hall, https://www.youtube.com/@epsomandewellBC/playlists. View directions

Contact: Sandra Dessent, tel: 01372 732121  email:  sdessent@epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

28.

Question Time

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.

Decision:

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

Minutes:

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

29.

Declarations of Interest

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.

Decision:

No declarations of interest were made by councillors regarding items on the Agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made by councillors regarding items on the Agenda.

30.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 93 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 7 December 2017 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


Decision:

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 7 December 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 7 December 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

31.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policies pdf icon PDF 88 KB

The Committee are asked to agree to recommend to Council the adoption of the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy incorporating the new Surrey-wide convictions policy.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee:

(1)            Agreed to recommend to Council the adoption of the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy incorporating the new Surrey-wide convictions policy.

(2)            Authorised the Licensing, Grants and HIA Manager in consultation with the Chairman of Licensing and Planning Policy Manager to make minor amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy (including convictions policy) as may be required from time to time under the Delegated Powers scheme.

Minutes:

At the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee in September 2017 it was agreed in principal to the adoption of a Surrey-wide convictions policy for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers, and that a further report would be brought before the Committee following the public consultation.  The consultation commenced on 21 October 2017 and ended on 4 December 2017.

Details of the consultation were circulated to members to enable the opportunity for feedback.  The draft policy was approved by Surrey Legal Heads and other relevant working groups.  It was also noted that the trade had been asked to comment on the proposed changes and no representations had been submitted. 

Therefore having considered the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy, incorporating the new Surrey-wide convictions policy, the Committee:

(1)            Agreed to recommend to Council the adoption of the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy

(2)            Authorised the Licensing, Grants and HIA Manager in consultation with the Chairman of Licensing and Planning Policy Manager to make minor amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy (including convictions policy) as may be required from time to time under the Delegated Powers scheme.

32.

Local Plan Issues & Options Consultation - Outcomes pdf icon PDF 132 KB

This report provides an overview of the responses received during the Local Plan Issues and Options consultation.  It also sets out the Officers’ responding comments and any suggested actions and also proposes a way forward.

 

Members of the Committee are asked to consider the responses made to the Issues & Options Consultation as set out under Annexes 1 and 2 and subject to any amendments agree to the annexes being published as a record of the Consultation, and agree Option 4 as the way forward for the Local Plan.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Having considered the Issues and Options Consultation as set out under Annexes 1 and 2, the Committee:

(1)            Agreed to the publication of the Annexes 1 and 2

(2)            Agreed Option 4 in the consultation as the way forward for the Local plan

Minutes:

With regard to the local plan an Issues and Options Consultation had been carried out which focused on the housing growth challenges facing the Borough.

The Committee were informed by way of a presentation; the progress to date of the Local Plan; the four options presented in the Issues and Options consultation for accommodating housing needs; an overview of the outputs from the consultation and the proposed way forward taking into account National Planning Policy and relevant government publications.

The Committee discussed the outcomes from the consultation and the following points arose from the discussion:

·                 The government methodology, i.e. a ‘one size fits all’ for assessing an objectively assessed housing need could best be challenged through the Council producing strong evidence to demonstrate the boroughs unique circumstances.

·                 The importance of ‘visual character’ when assessing developable potential was acknowledged and it was reiterated that incorporating high quality appealing designs was the only way forward to delivering an acceptable Local Plan.

·                 Housing growth supported by appropriate infrastructure was a principal consideration for the Council and officers were working closely with infrastructure providers, e.g. Surrey County Council, the NHS and Education authorities to explore innovative and cost effective solutions to enable the provision of necessary infrastructure to keep pace with growth.  It was noted that to date Local Plan Inspectors had not placed great weight on infrastructure capacity as a constraint for growth.  It was further noted that some utility providers for example Thames Water had highlighted the need for adequate water and sewerage infrastructure to be delivered prior to development and requested a strengthening of the policy requirements in the Local Plan.

·                 Following on from the consultation, officers were now working on producing a list of sites that could be considered as potential site allocation options.  These candidate sites will be assessed to establish whether they are genuinely available, deliverable and developable during the new Local Plan period.

·                 It was noted that there was significant support for Option 1 in the consultation – urban intensification - and that whilst most of the sites currently under consideration could not support this option due to their size, the principles of urban intensification may be considered in the long term as larger sites became available.

·                 It was confirmed that the next consultation stage of the Local Plan process will be promoted through the Borough Insight Magazine which is distributed to all households, enabling the widest possible number of residents to comment.

·                 Concern was expressed with regard to the scale of affordable housing need (identified through the SHMA) and the Council’s ability to meet it in light of the constraints introduced through national planning policy.  It was agreed that meeting the target was going to be extremely challenging and the Council’s continual efforts to influence the Government position needed to be voiced whenever the opportunity arose.

·                 Is was noted that the feasibility to increase the density of developments depended on the size of site, and officers would be producing materials to assist people to visualise the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.