Agenda and draft minutes

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

An apology for absence was recieved from Councillor Newton (with Councillor Goldman substituting).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on Tuesday 2^nd April 2024.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Tuesday 27 February 2024, 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 7 (report A.2 – Local Plan Review: Issues and Options Consultation Document), Councillor Fairley declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest as her family owned and farmed land in and around Horsley Cross and land had been put forward for consideration within the call for sites process, both at Horsley Cross roundabout and along the B1035 towards Horsley Cross Street.  Horsley Cross was detailed within the options in the report. She also informed Members that she would withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate juncture and therefore take no part in the Committee’s deliberations on this matter.

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 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 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 inform the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee of the outcome of the public consultation exercise carried out in relation to the draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and that Officers have made a number of minor modifications to the SCI in response to those consultation responses.

To seek the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee’s endorsement of the SCI, as amended, as well as its approval that the SCI be submitted to the Council's Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning for their formal decision to formally adopt the SCI on behalf of the Council.

The Committee considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.1) which:-

(i)     informed it of the outcome of the public consultation exercise carried out in relation to the draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and that Officers had made a number of minor modifications to the SCI in response to those consultation responses; and

(ii)    sought its endorsement of the SCI, as amended, as well as its approval that the SCI be submitted to the Council's Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning for their formal decision to formally adopt the SCI on behalf of the Council.

The Committee recalled that the SCI was designed to set out how the Council would involve the community and other stakeholders in the planning process, in particular, when it came to public consultation on the Local Plan and other planning policy documents. It also explained how the Council would consult communities and other stakeholders on Planning Applications and advised developers how best to undertake early community engagement prior to submitting their applications.

Members were aware that the Council was currently undertaking the process of reviewing the Local Plan for the District, which would guide new development in Tendring until 2041. The updated SCI would guide public engagement throughout this process, and compliance with the SCI was a legal requirement that would be considered when the Local Plan was examined by a Government appointed Inspector.

A six-week public consultation had been held between 22^nd January and 4^th March 2024 to give the community and other stakeholders the opportunity to comment on the consultation methods proposed. A small number of consultation responses had been received by the Council.

It was reported that the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) had prepared a detailed representation setting out the services they provided and had also provided general comments on their involvement in the plan-making system. Specific mention had been made to those instances when EEAST should be consulted at each stage. The SCI had been amended (at Appendix 1) to ensure that this stakeholder was specifically mentioned.

The Committee was informed that Section 2 of the SCI set out the process for preparing and updating a Local Plan, and the engagement that would be expected at each stage. The initial scoping stage of preparing the Local Plan had not been included in this table, and it had now been added to this final version – reflecting the engagement techniques that were listed for the comparable stage of DPD preparation at section 4 of the SCI.

Members were made aware that Officers within the Development Management team had provided further advice on a number of aspects of public consultation undertaken for Planning Applications and pre-application enquires. The resulting changes to the SCI included detailing how planning applications were advertised; clarifying demolition in conservation areas; and pre-application advice. Those comments had been reflected in the amended SCI.

A full list of representations and what changes were proposed to be made to the SCI were included in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To seek the agreement of the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee to undertake a public consultation on the key Issues and Options underpinning the review of the Local Plan.

Earlier on in the meeting, as recorded under Minute 42 above, Councillor Fairley had declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in this matter. She thereupon withdrew from the meeting.

Update sheet relating to this item was circulated to the Committee Members and published on the TDC website prior to the start of the meeting. The Chairman of the Committee read the update for the meeting:

“The UK General Election 2024 is due to take place on Thursday 4 July 2024, and pre-election period began on Saturday 25 May. Restrictions on communications apply to all local authorities during this period.

From the start of the pre-election period, the Council must comply with restrictions outlined in Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986. In addition, a Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity published in 2011 makes clear that particular care should be taken in periods of heightened sensitivity, such as in the run-up to an election. The Act defines publicity as ‘any communication, in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or to a section of the public’.

It will therefore not be possible to hold the Issues and Options Consultation in June as the report indicates. Instead, it will be necessary to schedule the consultation exercise to avoid the pre-election period and minimise any overlap with the summer holiday period when many people are away and are often unable to engage effectively with consultations.

This revised timescale will necessitate a further update to the Local Development Scheme (LDS) (which the committee agreed at its meeting of 27^th February 2024), setting out the updated timetable for the Local Plan review process. This update will be brought before the committee at a future meeting”.

The Committee then considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.2) which sought its agreement to undertake a public consultation on the key Issues and Options underpinning the review of the Local Plan.

Members were aware that the Government required councils to review and update Local Plans every five years in order to ensure they remained up-to-date and effective, complied with latest national policy and were adjusted accordingly to respond to changing circumstances. At its meeting held on 20th December 2023, the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee had agreed to commence the mandatory review of the Council’s Local Plan, and on 27th February 2024 it had agreed the broad timetable for the review – the next step of which was the Issues and Options Consultation.

The Committee was reminded that the Issues and Options Consultation sought the views of local people and other interested parties on the key issues to be addressed through the review of the Local Plan and the options available to address them. In particular, this would include the issue of new housing growth and what options might be appropriate to meet that need.

Importantly, the Issues and Options Document incorporated the updated Vision and Objectives for the Local Plan and the High-Level Spatial Options for Long-Term Housing and Employment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.