Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Items
No. Item

27.

Question Time

To take any questions from members of the Public.

Decision:

No questions had been submitted or were asked by members of the public.

Minutes:

No questions had been submitted or were asked by members of the public.

28.

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 were made by Councillors with regard to items on the agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations were made by Councillors with regard to items on the agenda.

29.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 79 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 3 December 2020 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


Decision:

The Minutes of the previous Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 3 December 2020 were agreed as a true record and the Committee authorised the Chair to sign them.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the previous Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 3 December 2020 were agreed as a true record and the Committee authorised the Chair to sign them.

30.

Draft Enforcement Plan pdf icon PDF 74 KB

This Draft Planning Enforcement Plan sets a framework for how the planning enforcement team will handle complaints and any subsequent investigations into breaches of planning control. It will aim to clearly set out the aims of the Planning Enforcement Team, the background to Planning Enforcement and the scope of enforcement powers. This Draft Planning Enforcement Plan sets out priorities for responses to complaints and clarify the timescales for response by Enforcement Officers. This policy document will also seek to formulise how Councillors and the general public will be kept up to date in relation to the work being carried out by the Planning Enforcement Team.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration, the Committee resolved to:

(1)      Approve the Draft Planning Enforcement Plan (Appendix 1) for a period of 6 weeks public consultation. Following which the comments received will be considered, amendments made as considered appropriate and the revised plan will be brought back to this to the committee for formal adoption.

 

 

Minutes:

This Draft Planning Enforcement Plan sets a framework for how the planning enforcement team will handle complaints and any subsequent investigations into breaches of planning control. It will aim to clearly set out the aims of the Planning Enforcement Team, the background to Planning Enforcement and the scope of enforcement powers. This Draft Planning Enforcement Plan sets out priorities for responses to complaints and clarify the timescales for response by Enforcement Officers. This policy document will also seek to formulise how Councillors and the general public will be kept up to date in relation to the work being carried out by the Planning Enforcement Team.

The Committee received an introduction from the Head of Planning.

The following points were raised by the Committee:

a)            Involvement with local Members: Members noted that potential breaches are to be reviewed by relevant Officers, and noted that it may be of benefit for local Ward Members to be consulted when such an occasion arises. Following consideration of this matter, it was agreed that the Officer would include the Committee’s comments in the Draft Plan.

b)           Relevant demolition: Members raised concerns regarding the use of the phrase ‘relevant demolition’ and whether members of the public may understand what is meant by this. The Officer confirmed that it relates to that requiring Planning Permission or Listed Building Consent, and agreed to clarify this in the Draft Plan.

c)            Raising awareness: Members spoke about the possibility of publishing updates via the Annual Monitoring Report in light of raising awareness of planning management and enforcement.

d)           Priorities for planning enforcement investigation: Members made a request for the following point to be added to Level 2:

·                     Any working conservation area

e)            Service standards and objectives: Members made a request for the following additional wording (in bold) to be added to the third bullet point:

·                     Regular updates about what action has been taken. Complainants will be informed and at each key stage (or at least every three months) of the process - for example, whether an enforcement notice has been served

Following consideration, it was resolved unanimously that the Committee:

(1)      Approved the Draft Planning Enforcement Plan (Appendix 1) for a period of 6 weeks public consultation. Following which the comments received will be considered, amendments made as considered appropriate and the revised plan will be brought back to this to the committee for formal adoption.

 

 

31.

Supporting housing delivery and public service infrastructure pdf icon PDF 104 KB

The Council’s draft response to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on “Supporting housing delivery and public infrastructure” proposals published on 3rd December 2020.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration, the Committee resolved to:

(1)         Note and approve the draft response to the government’s proposals documented within the open consultation; “Supporting housing delivery and public service infrastructure”.

 

Minutes:

The Council’s draft response to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on “Supporting housing delivery and public service infrastructure” proposals published on 3rd December 2020.

The Committee received a verbal introduction from the Planning Policy Officer.

The Committee noted the report and raised the following points:

a)            Change in the Use Classes Order: Members noted the change to use classes that were implemented on 1 September 2020.  This included the addition of a new use Class, which essentially combined a number of former use classes into a new Class E. Officers noted this and advised of a transitional period until the end of July 2021.

b)           Q1/5: Members requested that business centres be mentioned in questions 1 and 5 of the response. The Officer agreed to include these comments in the response.

c)            Q2.3: Members requested that the response makes note of areas that affect conservation areas, as well as outside conservation areas. The Officer agreed to include these comments in the response.

d)           Q3.2: Members made a request for ‘and the effect on local amenities’ be added to the end of the response.

e)            Q4.1: Members requested that the word ‘No’ be removed from the beginning of the response.

f)             Q5: Members requested for the following amendment to the penultimate sentence, ‘Do more harm to the country, its economy, the environment and infrastructure’.

g)           Q8: Members requested that a comment be added relating to playing fields and outdoor activities. The Officer agreed to include these comments in the response.

Following consideration, it was resolved unanimously that the Committee:

(1)         Agreed to note and approve the draft response to the government’s proposals documented within the open consultation; “Supporting housing delivery and public service infrastructure”.