Issue - meetings

The Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) has two purposes; to monitor progress towards new Local Development Documents and to monitor the effectiveness of key policies set out in Local Development Documents.

The AMR is a factual report and is part of the evidence base to inform plan-making.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the contents of the Authority Monitoring Report (Appendix 1 to the report).

The Committee received a report presenting the Authority Monitoring Report 2020-2021. The Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) has two purposes; to monitor progress towards new Local Development Documents and to monitor the effectiveness of key policies set out in Local Development Documents.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Correction to Table 4, page 16 of the agenda pack. The Committee noted the following corrections to the data contained in Table 4 of the AMR, on page 16 of the agenda document pack.

Total CS Target was corrected to read: 2,534

Total Overall Deficit/surplus was corrected to read: 27.9%

b)            Affordable housing. The Committee noted the percentage of affordable housing completed as detailed in table 5 of the AMR, on page 17 of the agenda document pack. The Committee noted that government legislative changes had reduced the council’s ability to demand affordable housing provision in developments of 10 dwellings or less and had affected the issue of viability. The Head of Place Development informed the Committee that through the Local Plan and by reviewing the impact of Council policies on viability, the Council could seek to address this against other priorities.

c)            Affordable housing contributions on schemes under 10 dwellings. Following a question from a Member of the Committee with reference to Elmbridge Borough Council, the Head of Place Development informed the Committee that some authorities had existing adopted local plan documents which sought affordable housing contributions on schemes under 10 dwellings, but were not able to implement such a policy following legislative change. The Head of Place Development would look into whether Elmbridge Borough Council had been able to implement its policy following the meeting.

d)            Use of Section 106 affordable housing funds. Following a question from a Member, the Committee was informed that the Council had an Officer Working Group which was looking at how S106 funds could be used to provide affordable housing and also address issues of homelessness.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the contents of the Authority Monitoring Report (Appendix 1 to the report).