Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Bush, Fowler and Scott (with no substitutions).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on 20 December 2023.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Wednesday 20 December 2023, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

In relation to agenda item 6 (report A.1 – Neighbourhood Plans Update), Councillor Fairley declared for the public record that she was the Ward Member for Ardleigh.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

No questions on notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38 had been submitted on this occasion.

The Council’s Public Speaking Scheme for the Planning Policy & Local Plan Committee gives the opportunity for members of the public and other interested parties/stakeholders to speak to the Council’s elected members on the Planning Policy & Local Plan Committee on any specific agenda item to be considered at that public meeting.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Council’s public speaking scheme for the Planning Policy & Local Plan Committee, no member of the public had registered to ask at this meeting a question or to make a statement regarding the matters contained in the reports of the Director (Planning).

To report to the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee the progress of the emerging Neighbourhood Plans for Ardleigh and Elmstead.

Earlier on in the meeting, as recorded under Minute 27 above, Councillor Fairley had declared for the public record that she was the Ward Member for Ardleigh.

The Committee considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.1) which reported the progress of the emerging Neighbourhood Plans.

Members recalled that the Council currently had two Neighbourhood Plans and one Neighbourhood Development Order that were currently the subject of examination by Independent Examiners. Both Neighbourhood Plans and the Neighbourhood Development Order had been considered by the Committee and by the Cabinet and the decision had been made for each to be the subject of a six-week public consultation, which had taken place in May 2023 (for Ardleigh) and September 2023 (for Elmstead). Since that time, Independent Examiners had been appointed for each of the Plans and the Examination of each Plan had been formally opened. The two Plans were at slightly different stages within the examination process that is:-

Ardleigh Neighbourhood Plan was slightly ahead, and a six-week ‘focused consultation’ was now underway; and

Elmstead’s Neighbourhood Plan and Neighbourhood Development Order were progressing through the examination process with a Public Hearing undertaken in early February 2024.

Ardleigh Neighbourhood Plan

Members were reminded that the ‘Regulation 16 consultation’ for the Ardleigh Neighbourhood Plan had run from 15^th May to 26^th June 2023.

It was reported that, on the 14^th June 2023, Mrs Ann Skippers MRTPI had been appointed as the Examiner for the Ardleigh Neighbourhood Plan. The Examination for the Plan had formally opened on Wednesday 12^th July 2023.

On 18^th August 2023, the Examiner had sent the Council an ‘Interim Note of Findings’ which had detailed a number of questions and matters of clarification. On 18^th September 2023 the Council, in collaboration with the Parish Council, had submitted its response to the Examiner’s Interim Note. The Examiner had then responded to the Councils on 6^th November 2023, indicating that the Councils needed to do further work in regard to the Habitats Regulation Assessment.  A Habitats Regulation Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment) Screening Report had been prepared by Essex County Council Place Services, on behalf of the District Council in support of the Neighbourhood Plan. The three statutory consultation bodies (Natural England, Historic England and the Environment Agency) however had not been formally consulted on the Screening Report and no formal decision by the District Council had been made on the Screening Report.

A consultation had subsequently been held between 16th November and 18th December 2023 when comments from Natural England and Historic England had been received. The District Council had therefore been able to publish a formal decision, as the Competent Authority, stating that the Screening Report now met the requirements of the Regulations.

Members were informed that the Examiner’s significant modifications document and details of the Habitat Regulations Assessment decision were available as background documents.

The Committee was made aware that this decision, as well as the Examiner’s proposed significant modifications to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To seek the Planning Policy & Local Plan Committee’s agreement to publish a new ‘Local Development Scheme’, updating the proposed timetable for preparing Planning documents including the Local Plan Review and the Development Plan Document (DPD) for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

The Committee considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.2) which sought its agreement to publish a new ‘Local Development Scheme’ thereby updating the proposed timetable for preparing planning documents, including the Local Plan Review and the Development Plan Document (DPD) for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC).

The Committee was reminded that every Local Planning Authority had to prepare and maintain a Local Development Scheme (LDS) in accordance with section 15 of Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended). The LDS was the Council’s rolling project plan (often covering a period of three years) for producing its Local Development Documents and which set out a timetable for their delivery.

Members were made aware that the LDS was designed to set out the process for preparing key planning documents. It included the anticipated timetable of consultation periods, examinations and expected dates of adoption for the Local Plan Review and the TCBGC’s DPD. Publishing the LDS ensured that stakeholders, including members of the public, Town and Parish Councils, landowners and developers, partner organisations and the Planning Inspectorate were kept aware of the timetable the Council was working to and could organise their time and resources accordingly. The LDS was usually updated to cover three-year cycles of Plan preparation.

It was reported that, in his Written Ministerial Statement made on 19^th December 2023, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had instructed Local Planning Authorities to make sure they had an up-to-date plan timetable in place within 12 weeks of the publication of the new NPPF, and to provide a copy of same to his department. The timetable referred to was included within the LDS, and it was therefore proposed to submit this document to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities at the same time as it was published on the Council’s website.

Members were advised that following the adoption of Section 1 of the Local Plan in January 2021 and Section 2 in January 2022, the main focus of the LDS was now the mandatory five-year review of the Local Plan as well as the TCBGC’s DPD.

It was reported that the review of the Local Plan would follow the same statutory process as the preparation of the Local Plan itself. A provisional timetable which covered the period 2024-2026 was proposed, which would enable the updated Local Plan to be submitted to the Secretary of State by June 2025, and examined by a Planning Inspector and adopted before January 2026.

The Committee was informed that the timetable for the TCBGC’s DPD had also been updated, reflecting the stages that had now been completed to date and the revised timescale for the next steps, which included the Examination of the DPD in May 2024. Adoption of the DPD was anticipated in the winter of 2024.

Members noted that the LDS included broad timescales for the following Supplementary Planning Documents, Neighbourhood Plans and other guidance:-

·      Hartley Gardens SPD

·      Elmstead Neighbourhood Plan and Neighbourhood Development Order  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To seek the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee’s comments on, and approval for an updated version of the Local Plan’s overarching Vision and Objectives for the purpose of the Local Plan review and associated public consultation.

The Committee considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.3) which sought its comments on, and approval for, an updated version of the Local Plan’s overarching Vision and Objectives for the purpose of the Local Plan review and associated public consultation.

Members were reminded that Chapter 2 of the Council’s adopted Local Plan (Section 2) set out an overarching vision and associated set of objectives to guide the planning of the District up to 2033. The vision and objectives underpinned many of the policies and proposals in the Local Plan that the Council, working with partners, were seeking to implement over the Plan’s time-frame.

Members were advised that, in reviewing the Local Plan and extending its timeframe to 2041, it would be appropriate to revisit the vision and objectives – albeit in line with the overarching principles agreed by the Committee at its last meeting on 20 December 2023 which had included: “The vision and objectives within Section 2 of the current Local Plan adopted in 2022 will be carried forward, broadly unchanged, into the adopted Local Plan to apply to the extended period to 2041. They will however be amended selectively and as necessary to reflect changes in national policy, updated evidence and the potential opportunities arising from Freeport status, particularly in relation to Harwich, Bathside Bay and the A120 corridor.”

It was felt that because the vision and objectives in the current Local Plan were already designed to cover the period to 2033 (some nine years away from now) and were only adopted by the Council as recently as 2022, it would be reasonable not to expect the update to bring about any fundamental change in the overall approach and direction – assuming that a positive vision for the District in 2033 could sensibly form the basis of a positive vision for the extended period to 2041. However, the Local Plan review naturally provided an opportunity to check that the vision and objectives were accurate and reflected the most up-to-date position – including, as suggested above, the opportunities arising from Freeport East; but also on the priorities in Council’s latest Corporate Plan (Our Vision) and progress on the Levelling-Up projects in the District and the Jaywick Sands Place Plan.

It was reported that another overarching principle agreed by the Committee in December 2023 was that: “The general format, chapter headings and policy subject order in the updated Local Plan will broadly follow that of the current Section 2 Local Plan – accepting that some policies may be added and others deleted, as necessary. This will ensure a sensible level of continuity and understanding and to minimise confusion for residents, Parish and Town Councils and other interested bodies - particularly given how recently the current Local Plan was put in place.” Officers therefore recommended that the way in which the vision and objectives were currently presented in the Local Plan be carried forward, broadly unchanged.

Local Plan Review Process

The Committee was informed that the process for reviewing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.