Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Three Members of the Public provided verbal statements to the Committee.

To receive declarations of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or other registrable or non-registrable interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made in relation to items of business to be discussed at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee held on 24 September and 17 October 2024 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Minutes of the Meetings of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 24 September and 17 October 2024 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

The purpose of this report is to present the Proposed Submission Local Plan (2022-2040) to the Committee so that they can make a recommendation to Full Council that public consultation be undertaken on the Proposed Submission Local Plan as soon as practically possible and in accordance with our Local Development Scheme (the Local Plan timetable).

The Regulation 19 consultation is the second consultation stage on the Local Plan prior to the document being submitted for examination by a Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. The Regulation 19 consultation seeks representations on legal compliance and the four tests of soundness set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Following consideration, the Committee resolved;

(8 for, 2 against) to:

(1)      Recommend to Full Council that the Proposed Submission Local Plan be endorsed as being sound.

(2)      Recommend to Full Council the public consultation on the Proposed Submission Local Plan commences as soon as is practicably possible for a period of 6 weeks, dates to be agreed with the Chair of Licensing and Planning Policy Committee.

(8 for, 1 against, and 1 abstaining) to:

(3)      Recommend to Full Council that following the six week consultation, as soon as is practicably possible, the Proposed Submission Local Plan 2022-2040 and all associated documents, together with a Statement including how the responses from previous consultations have been taken into account and a summary of the main issues raised in the publication stage responses, be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination under Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations.

(4)      Nominate and Authorise the Head of Place Development in consultation with the Chair of Licensing and Planning Policy Committee, once the Local Plan 2022- 2040 has been submitted for examination, to invite the examining Inspector(s) to recommend any modifications they consider to be necessary in accordance with section 20(7C) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

(9 for, 1 against):

(5)      Nominate and Authorise the Head of Place Development in consultation with the Chair of Licensing and Planning Policy Committee, to propose changes and corrections to the Local Plan (2022-2040) and supporting documents, including policy updates, editorial, typographical and grammatical errors, during and following the publicity period, plan submission and during examination.

Unanimously to:

(6)      Nominate and authorise the Head of Place Development in consultation with the Chair of Licencing and Planning Policy Committee to make changes and corrections further to any typographical and grammatical errors to the Local Plan prior to Regulation 19 public consultation commencing.

In the opinion of the Chief Executive and in accordance with the Paragraph 14.2 of Annex 4.6 of the Operating Framework (Overview, Audit and Scrutiny) the decision on this item is considered to be urgent and is not subject to call-in.

The Committee received the Proposed Submission Local Plan (2022-2040).

The Planning Policy Manager suggested that a sixth recommendation be added to the report, which would, ‘nominate and authorise the Head of Place Development in consultation with the Chair of Licensing and Planning Policy Committee to make changes and corrections further to any typographical and grammatical errors to the Local Plan prior to Regulation 19 public consultation commencing,’ to ensure that minor corrections can be made prior to the Proposed Submission Local Plan (2022-2040) going out to public consultation.

Councillor Howells made a verbal statement to the Committee.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Thanks. The Chair expressed thanks to Officers for their work on producing the Local Plan documents throughout the whole Local Plan process. This thanks was echoed by several Members of the Committee. Several Members also expressed thanks to Councillor McCormick for his work as the previous Chair of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee.

b)            Local Plan Process. Members of the Committee raised theirfrustration with the Local Plan process and the amount of time and money that has been spent due to the process set out by Central Government.

c)            Greenbelt. A Member of the Committee raised that if Greenbelt sites are removed from the Local Plan, it will almost certainly be rejected by the Planning Inspector. The Member continued to explain that removing Greenbelt sites from the Local Plan would affect its soundness and decrease the provision of housing in the borough.

d)            Population Density. A Member of the Committee raised concerns with building more housing in Epsom, as Epsom already has a population density five times the national average. The Member expressed reluctance in voting for the Local Plan.

e)            Officers. The Chair reminded Members to be mindful about how they speak to or about Officers in regard to their work on the Local Plan documents.

f)             Housing. A Member of the Committee stated that the rules set out by Central Government fail to deal with actual housing need and population growth in Epsom and Ewell. The Member expressed that Central Government also fail to allow the Council as the Local Planning Authority to insist that developers must build affordable homes. The Member highlighted that this issue is a big problem for the borough as there is a huge need for social housing, rental properties, housing for key workers, and housing for homeless people. The Member raised that the Local Plan is not solving the problems raised and that is a huge concern.

g)            Changes to the Local Plan. A Member of the Committee asked for confirmation that Committee Members will get an opportunity to ask for changes to Appendix 1 (the Local Plan). The Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal informed the Committee that if Members wish to make changes, they need to propose a motion, have it seconded, and then the Committee will take a vote on that. It was advised that all opening statements were given first and then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.