Agenda, decisions and minutes

To take any questions or statements from members of the Public.

No questions or statements were received from the Public.

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 any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting were made by Members.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 30 January 2023 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Committee confirmed as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 30 January 2023 and authorised the Chair to sign them.

The Committee are asked to agree in principle the proposal for amending the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and to authorise public consultation.

The Committee received a report asking the Committee to agree in principle the proposal for amending the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and to authorise public consultation.

The following matters were considered:

(1)          Stance on ULEZ. A Member of the Committee asked if the report contradicts the Council’s stance on ULEZ and queries how consistent it is with previous communication from the Council on ULEZ. The Principal Licensing Officer responded to state that this proposed policy is not dependent on the decision to expand the ULEZ zone so therefore if the ULEZ expansion does not take effect then this policy could still take effect. The Principal Licensing Officer reminded the Committee that this report is to go to public consultation on an emissions policy for licensed vehicles and it will then be up to the Committee to decide what standard of emissions policy is introduced for licensed vehicles, based on the information garnered from the public consultation. There are advantages of adopting ULEZ standards as there is already the infrastructure in place for vehicle owners to easily find out if they are ULEZ compliant and the ULEZ standards are backed by scientific research. A Member of the Committee reminded members that the letter written to oppose the ULEZ expansion was in the interests of residents and the additional cost being imposed upon them, it was not in opposition of cleaner air in the borough.

(2)          Borough Air Quality. A Member of the Committee asked if the policy is necessary if our air quality is good within the borough. The Principal Licensing Officer responded to state that further improvements to the air quality in the borough would be beneficial to those with breathing difficulties or those with young children so is readily supported.

(3)          Additional Cost for Taxi Drivers. A Member of the Conservators asked if imposing extra costs onto people running lawful businesses is worth it when it will affect a relatively small number of vehicles. The Principal Licensing Officers informs the committee that all but two Hackney Carriage in the borough are Diesel engines and a large percentage are higher polluting vehicles so there is a definite benefit to imposing new standards for emissions despite the cost to the trade. There is already recognition within the trade that something has needed to be done when it comes to emission standards and this public consultation will be to understand and reach a balanced proposal for emissions standards which takes into account the addition cost imposed on licence holders as well as public health. It has not been recorded for licensed PHV if they are diesel or petrol engines, therefore, it is hard to say with any certainty how they would stand with the standards and ULEZ policy.

(4)          Imposed onto small number of vehicles. A Member of the Committee asked if there is any point enforcing this emissions policy when it is being put forward to affect such a small percentage of cars in the borough. The Principal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

The report identifies the adverse variance in planning-related fees for the financial year 2022/23 and outlines measures to address reduced forecast planning income and mitigation options.

The Committee received a report identifying the adverse variance in planning-related fees for the financial year 2022/23 and outlining measures to address reduced forecast planning income and mitigation options.

The following matters were considered:

(1)          Budgeted Income Projection for 23/24. A Member of the Committee asked what the Budgeted Income Projection is for Development Management Service for 2023-2024. The Chief Accountant confirmed the figure is £660,000 for 2023 to 2024 as of the 1^st of April 2023.

(2)          Variance of Income. A Member of the Committee asked how such a Variance of Income was produced between 2022/23 and 2023/24.The Interim Head of Place Development explained that the Council cannot predict how many planning applications will be received nor generate more for themselves to deal with, they are entirely reliant on the market and people submitting applications to the Council. The Chief Accountant explains that due to Development Management having fixed costs, it must also have fixed budgets. The Council does budget to increase the charges year on year by a set percentage, which is set by the Council, this is currently set at 6% for the 2023/24 financial year. The planning application income budget, currently set at £456,000, has stayed the same since the 2018/19 financial year. That was the year the government increased charges for planning applications, so it was set in line with those changes. The fees and charges for planning applications are set by central government and therefore, we do no increase that budget year on year. The 2019/20 financial year, the budget was exceeded by £65,000 and the year before that it was exceeded by roughly the same amount so traditionally there wasn’t this budgetary issue we are currently seeing.Planning Application numbers haven’t recovered since COVID, in terms of budget, if we wanted to reduce income budget then we need to fund that somehow and we need to create more income somewhere else or reduce costs, so when there is a fixed cost base, there needs to be a fixed budget so that explains why things have gotten out of kilter. For the income budget to be cut, there would need to be cuts made elsewhere to enable this. The Chair confirms that there will be more coming to the committee on Budget Targets over the coming meetings.

(3)          Mitigation and shortfall. A Member of the Committeeraised that all mitigation strategies are long-term and asked whether short-term mitigations should be introducedif changes to the framework from central government are still a long way off. The Interim Head of Place Development informs the committee that central government hopes to introduce changes by summer of 2022. The Chair confirms that any changes will be brought back to this committee.

Following consideration, the Committee;

Resolved (5 for, 1 abstained, and the Chair not voting) to:

(1)      Agree that the reasons for the reduction in planning related fees is for reasons outside of the Council’s control.[VP1] 

Unanimously resolved to:

(2)      Note the reduction in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Public consultation on the Draft Local Plan (2022-2040) was undertaken between 1 February 2023 and 19 March 2023. Following the closure of the public consultation an extraordinary Council meeting was held on the 22 March 2023 where the decision was made to pause the Local Plan to enable specified tasks to be undertaken.

This report provides an update on the work undertaken following the decision on the 22 March by Council and makes recommendations on the work that can progress prior to a decision being made at a future committee on a revised timetable for producing the Local Plan.  

Public consultation on the Draft Local Plan (2022-2040) was undertaken between 1 February 2023 and 19 March 2023. Following the closure of the public consultation an extraordinary Council meeting was held on the 22 March 2023 where the decision was made to pause the Local Plan to enable specified tasks to be undertaken.

The Committee received a report providing an update on the work undertaken following the decision on the 22 March by Council and made recommendations on the work that can progress prior to a decision being made at a future committee on a revised timetable for producing the Local Plan. 

The following matters were considered:

a)            Member Briefings. The Chair confirmed that several briefings on the Local Plan will be scheduled for members to attend, enabling returning and new Councillors to be brought up to speed on the Local Plan.

b)           Greenfield sites. A Member of the Committee expressed support for the direction of the Local Plan, particularly with the efforts to look at more Brownfield sites rather than Greenfield sites in order to meet housing targets but protect Greenfield land.

c)            Consultation Comments. A Member of the Committee asked for a confirmation date on the publishing of the Consultation Comments. The Chair confirmed that they would be published by the 30^th of June 2023. A Member of the Committee asked if Consultation Comments that have been submitted using a template response will still be considered and published. The Planning Policy Manager confirmed that any comments submitted by an independent individual or organisation during the consultation period, and through one of the designated channels, will all be processed, recorded and published.

d)           2018 Data - Epsom and Ewell Future Housing Numbers. A Member of the Committee asked what the achieved outcome is now that the 2018 data has been analysed. The Chair informed the Committee that they are driven by policy and requirements to use the 2014 data. The Planning Policy Manager informed the Committee that it is the Government who set and decide the standard method and all local authorities throughout England are also bound to use the 2014 data. In the report, the 2018 data has been set out to show what would happen if more up to date data could be used and the Government did not change any other methodology.

e)            Housing Targets. A Member of the Committee asked if the housing targets will be able to be achieved using 2014 data. The Chair responded to inform the Committee that non-greenbelt sites are still being looked for, the call for sites was still open and further workstreams are progressing, however, it is looking unlikely at present that housing targets will be achieved. A Member responded to ask, if there is an understanding and acceptance about not reaching housing targets, can a commitment be made by the Council not to build on any greenfield sites. The Chair confirmed that the Council cannot commit to not building on greenfield sites at present but that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.