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

10.

Question Time

To take any questions from members of 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:

A verbal question was asked by a member of the public, details of which are recorded in the Minutes.

Minutes:

A question was asked by a member of the public, in relation to Item 04, Epsom and Ewell Local Plan Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).  The question was an enquiry regarding the Borough’s objectively assessed housing need figure identified in the SHMA, and the subsequent effect on the Borough’s green belt. 

The Chairman provided a verbal response at the meeting, outlining the process for producing a new Borough-wide housing target, and also undertook to send a copy of the Council’s response to a recent local press enquiry.

11.

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.

12.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 103 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 13 July 2016 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


Decision:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2016 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2016 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

13.

Epsom and Ewell Local Plan Strategic Housing Market Assessment pdf icon PDF 119 KB

The Committee are asked to consider the Strategic Housing Market Assessment for Kingston-upon-Thames and North East Surrey and agree to its publication, and  also acknowledge that the objectively assessed housing needs figure identified by the SHMA be used to  inform the preparation of a new Borough-wide housing target.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee:

·                 Agreed to the publication of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA)

·                 Agreed that the objectively assessed housing needs figure identified in the SHMA be used to inform the preparation of a new Borough-wide housing target.

Minutes:

In October 2014 it was agreed by the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee to produce a new Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) that would identify an objectively assessed housing need for the borough.  This has subsequently been produced in partnership with Kingston-upon-Thames and North East Surrey.

The importance of having an NPPF compliant plan was stressed and the figure identified in the SHMA was a crucial piece of evidence that would be used to inform the review of the Borough’s Local Plan housing policies and site allocations.

The Committee considered the SHMA and the following points were made:

·                 The self-build register was introduced in the Housing and Planning act in April 2016.  The Committee was informed that the Government was actively encouraging self-build as a means to increase housing stock, however this type of housing would not have an advantage over other methods of housing delivery. 

·                 All local authorities had a responsibility to produce their own evidence based housing target, however the Council had a duty to cooperate with other local authorities to accommodate housing demand.  The Council were obligated to demonstrate that the duty to cooperate criteria had been met as part of the process for producing a sound Local Plan.

·                 As part of the evidence base for a partial review of the Core Strategy a Green Belt study was currently being undertaken to assess the quality of the Borough’s Green Belt against specific criteria.  Following completion of the study, the Council could more accurately calculate the Borough’s housing target.

·                 The social rented sector, as referred to in the SHMA was defined as follows:

‘Social rented housing – owned by local authorities and private register providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing Regeneration Act (2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime.  It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.’

Accordingly, the Committee approved the publication of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA), and agreed that the objectively assessed housing needs figure identified in the SHMA be used to inform the preparation of a new Borough-wide housing target.

 

14.

Consideration of the Draft Document, Your Involvement in Planning for Public Consultation pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, all local authorities are required to produce a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) that sets out how and when we will carry out consultations that involve the community in both the preparation of planning policy documents and decisions on planning applications.  The Committee is asked to consider the revised draft document, Your involvement in Planning prior to public consultation. 

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee considered the revised draft document, ‘Your involvement in Planning’, and subject to a minor addition detailed in the Minutes, the Committee approved the document for public consultation.

Minutes:

Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, all local planning authorities are required to produce a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).  This document sets out how and when the Council will carry out consultations and involve the community in both the preparation of planning policy documents and decisions on planning applications.

The Committee was advised that the current document was sixteen years old, and there had been at least sixty changes in legislation since the original document had been published.  The revised document, ‘Your involvement in Planning’, took into account factual and digital changes, updated language and provided a glossary of terms. 

The Committee considered the revised draft document and made the following points:

·                 Section 1 of the document provided a comprehensive description of how the planning service sits within the Place Development Division.  It was agreed to add a reference to permitted development, whilst not under the control of the planning service, or requiring consultation, the additional wording would inform the public that advice on the process was available.

·                 It was noted that no Neighbourhood Plans were currently in force, and it had therefore not been considered necessary to make reference to them in the document.  However, should any organisations or groups make representations in the consultation stage, the document could be updated in agreement with the Committee.

Accordingly, subject to the addition detailed above, the Committee approved the revised draft document, ‘Your involvement in Planning, for public consultation.

Postscript:  The addition of a reference to permitted development in the ‘Your involvement in Planning’ draft document, will be worded as follows; ‘There is some development that can be carried out without the need for planning permission. This is known as permitted development. The team can give advice on this and further information can be found on the National Planning Portal website.’