Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Contact: Democratic Services, email:  democraticservices@epsom-ewell.gov.uk  tel: 01372 732000

Items
No. Item

31.

Question Time

To take any questions from members of the Public.

Minutes:

No questions were received from members of the public.

32.

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 in items on the Agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made in items on the Agenda.

33.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 182 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 2 December 2021 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 2 December 2021 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

34.

Authority Monitoring Report 2020-2021 pdf icon PDF 227 KB

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.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

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

 

 

Minutes:

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).

 

 

35.

Surrey Place Ambition consultation pdf icon PDF 265 KB

Surrey County Council is seeking responses to its draft Surrey 2050 Place Ambition Strategy, and Implementation Framework by 4 March 2022.

The consultation response supports the high-level principles but raises concern over the identification of Epsom as part of the Strategic Opportunity Area 6, because the consequences of this and how it relates to our own local strategy for growth and meeting local housing requirements is unclear.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the contents of the Surrey Place Ambition and agree the consultation response at Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)      Approve delegated authority to the Head of Place Development and Chair of Licensing Planning Policy Committee to finalise and submit the Council’s response to Surrey County Council.

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee received a report presenting the Council’s response to the  Surrey Place Ambition consultation. Surrey County Council was seeking responses to its draft Surrey 2050 Place Ambition Strategy, and Implementation Framework by 4 March 2022.

The consultation response supported the high-level principles but raised concern over the identification of Epsom as part of the Strategic Opportunity Area 6, because of the consequences of this and how it relates to the Borough Council’s local strategy for growth and meeting local housing requirements.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Proposed amendment to list of Primary Centres. Members of the Committee considered that the list of Primary centres detailed in paragraph 4.9 of the Surrey Place Ambition should be amended from “Epsom” to “Epsom, Ewell and Stoneleigh”.

b)            Amendments to draft consultation response. The Committee considered the following amendments to the draft consultation response:

a.    That the word “Epsom” in the final paragraph of the draft consultation response should be amended to read “Epsom and Ewell.

b.    That greater emphasis be given to 20-minute neighbourhoods and retention of key strategic employment areas within the consultation response.

c.    That paragraph 3 of the consultation response should make reference to Southern Railways, in addition to the existing reference to Southwest Rail.

d.    That the consultation response should make reference to improving air quality as a Priority Area for the Strategic Opportunity Area.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the contents of the Surrey Place Ambition and agree the consultation response at Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)      Approve delegated authority to the Head of Place Development and Chair of Licensing Planning Policy Committee to finalise and submit the Council’s response to Surrey County Council.