Agenda, decisions and minutes

Licensing and Planning Policy Committee - Thursday, 12th September, 2019 7.00 pm

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

7.

Appointment of Vice Chair

Minutes:

In the absence of the Vice-Chair, with the agreement of the Committee Councillor Chris Frost substituted for the meeting.

8.

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 were submitted or were asked at the meeting by members of the public.

Minutes:

No questions were submitted or were asked at the meeting by members of the public.

Following a request for a question to be put on an agenda item, which is not permissible under the Council’s Constitution, the Chairman agreed for a written response to be sent instead.

9.

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.

10.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 87 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on XX XXXXX 201X[SD1]  (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


 [SD1]Change date prior to publish!!

Decision:

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 13 June 2019 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 13 June 2019 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

11.

Draft Housing Delivery Action Plan 2019 pdf icon PDF 94 KB

The Committee is asked to approve the draft Housing Delivery Action Plan.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee approved the Housing Delivery Action Plan

Minutes:

The Draft Delivery Action Plan identifies 24 actions designed to drive increased housing delivery in the Borough.  The Action Plan is required by Government as a result of the Borough failing to deliver 95% Housing delivery for the previous three years.  The Housing Delivery Test result identified that the Borough achieved 57% of the requirement placing it 22nd (in terms of under performing) in a list of 105 authorities who are also obliged to prepare an action plan.

It was acknowledged that in light of the high housing requirement it was likely that the Council would fail the Housing Delivery Test (which would be carried out annually) for a number of years and until it could be demonstrated that 95% of the housing had been delivered in addition to this a 20% buffer would be applied to the five year land supply figure until the Council can demonstrate 85% of the housing has been delivered.  Whilst it was not possible to predict when a five year housing supply would be achieved, Officers reiterated their commitment to working with members to implement the actions set out in the plan.

The Committee noted the contributing causes for under-delivery and considered the actions required to stimulate growth, and the following points were raised:

·                     Action 1 – Clarification sought on the member representative for the LEP

·                     Action 2 -  Clarification sought on the Epsom Property Network

·                     Action 12 – Whilst is was noted that a policy statement had been published regarding the efficient use of land for optimising housing delivery, it was agreed to add a further statement on the website clarifying the position height restrictions.

·                     Action 17 – Officers confirmed that it was not possible to predict CIL contributions until a Strategic Development Viability Assessment had been carried out

·                     Action 22 – It was confirmed that the existing Car park working group would be involved in the preparation of a Car Park Strategy aimed at identifying any spare land capacity to deliver additional housing.

Accordingly, the Committee approved the Housing Delivery Action Plan

Postscript:  Following the meeting information was submitted regarding Actions 1 and 2, as follows:

Action 1:  There is no members representation from Epsom & Ewell.  The members of the Coast to Capital board can be found on their webpage:

https://www.coast2capital.org.uk/the-board/

Action 2:  The Epsom Property Network is organised by Peacocks  & Co Solictors. It is an event held every quarter at different venues around the Borough. It aims to bring together those in property industry in Epsom, attendees include commercial property agents / owners; estate agents; property lawyers; property finance brokers. The meeting is attended by senior officers of the Council.

12.

Local Plan Report Update and Overview pdf icon PDF 97 KB

The Committee is asked to note the progress being made in preparing the new Local Plan, authorise a revision of car parking standards and consider the Elmbridge local Plan Regulation 18 Consultations and the Council’s draft response.

Decision:

The Committee:

(1)            Noted the progress being made in preparing the new Local Plan.

(2)            Authorised the commencement of a revision of the Borough wide car parking standards.

(3)            Considered the options set out in the Elmbridge Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation and the Borough Council’s draft response.  Subject to an amendment agreed at the meeting, approved the draft response as the Borough Council’s formal position on the Elmbridge draft Local Plan.

Minutes:

The Committee received a report outlining the progress made towards the preparation of the Local Plan. 

The three areas covered in the report were:

(1)          Progress on technical studies

It was noted that the following technical studies were being prepared to support the emerging Local Plan, which included:

·                     Strategic Development Viability Assessment

·                     Spatial Economic Development Strategy

·                     Retail Needs Study and Town Centre Health Checks

·                     Sports Facilities Assessment and Playing Pitch Strategy

·                     Open Space Study

·                     Habitats Regulation Assessment

It was confirmed that when the studies were available they would be reported to the Committee.

(2)          Study to Support the Evolution of Car Parking Standards

It was reported that following approval being sought to use part of the Planning Delivery Grant for a review of the car parking standards in the Borough, a technical study would be commissioned and brought to the Committee for consideration.

(3)          Elmbridge Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation

Members were informed that Epsom & Ewell’s neighbouring borough Elmbridge had commenced the consultation on their emerging local plan and officers presented an outline of the five options put forward.

A draft letter responding to the five options was circulated to Members at the meeting congratulating Elmbridge on their clear and concise Issues and Options paper and expressing the Council’s support for option 3 – the optimising of urban areas and release of green belt which demonstrated that Elmbridge could meet its requirement and need.  This was important for Epsom & Ewell as this option negated the need to transfer any unmet need.

The Committee discussed the response which was agreed with the addition of the following in the penultimate paragraph:

‘We both face challenging housing requirements that have been imposed from central government and has led to your needing to include green belt in your options.’

Having considered the Update Report, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the progress being made in preparing the new Local Plan.

(2)          Authorised the commencement of a revision of the Borough wide car parking standards.

(3)          Considered the options set out in the Elmbridge Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation and the Borough Council’s draft response.  Subject to the amendment agreed as set out above, approved the draft response as the Borough Council’s formal position on the Elmbridge draft Local Plan.

13.

Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update 2019 pdf icon PDF 101 KB

The Committee is asked to note the contents of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update 2019 as a technical study that will form part of the evidence base for the emerging Local Plan.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee noted the contents of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update 2019 as a technical study that will form part of the evidence base for the emerging Local Plan.

Minutes:

The Committee received a copy of the updated Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) a technical study commissioned by the Council to update the SHMA for Kingston Upon Thames and North East Surrey Authorities 2016.  The SHMA would form part of the Council’s evidence base for its emerging Local Plan.

It was established that the SHMA is a complex technical study comprising of statistical analysis.  Whilst it outlines some objective suggestions it is not a policy document, its purpose is as an evidence base to inform future policy.

From the Executive Summary the Committee noted that the objective housing need calculation took into account ‘market signals’ and requested a definition of the term.

Accordingly, the Committee noted the contents of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update 2019 as a technical study that will form part of the evidence base for the emerging Local Plan.