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

Apologies for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillors Newton (with no substitution) and M Stephenson (with Councillor Sudra substituting).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on Thursday 22 January 2026.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Thursday 22 January 2026, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

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

In relation to report A.2, Councillor Chapman BEM declared a Non-Pecuniary Interest on the Officer Update Sheet relating to MSA27 that the blue hatch area was owned by her son.

As mentioned under Minute 6 below, after the short adjournment, Mrs Hastings the Council's Monitoring Officer confirmed that following the declaration of interest on Report A2, that the land shown coloured blue as referred to in the Update Sheet, was owned by her son, that fell within the definition of a Non-Registerable Interest.  As the matter affected a financial interest or well-being of a relative, therefore in accordance with the Code of Conduct, Councillor Chapman would have to withdraw for item A2.

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 that Committee on any Officer report due to be considered at this 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 on any of the Officer reports.

A member of the public, Clare Taylor, attended and made an oral statement, on behalf of the Lawford Tye Action Group, in relation to reports A.1 and A.2 of the Corporate Director for Planning and Community. Her statement touched upon the following matters:-

·     Strong proposals from the Lawford Parish Council to give Lawford Tye Field protected status;

·     Lawford Tye Field meets every criterion to be given protected status;

·     Pre-historic henge with a 4,000-year-old ancient monument;

·     Landscape quality;

·     Biodiversity;

·     Community using the Lawford Tye Field;

·     Public value; and

·     Vulnerability to planning applications.

Will Vote, a planning agent representing Rose Builders, attended and made an oral statement in relation to report A.2 of the Corporate Director for Planning and Community. His statement touched upon the following matters:-

·     The recommendation in the Officer Report (A.2) to delete sites MSA19 (proposal for 12 new homes on Manningtree Road, Little Bentley) and MSA20 (proposal for 17 new homes on Shop Road, Little Bromley);

·     A misunderstanding of the Anglian Water letter, which raised concerns based on a scenario that involved connection of the homes to the public sewer which was never the intention;

·     Both sites support the Council’s housing strategy and would strengthen the robustness of the Local Plan;

·     Both sites were considered highly deliverable; and

·     The proposal relied on modest, well-planned growth.

To provide the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee with a broad overview of the level and nature of responses received from residents and other stakeholders to the public consultation on the Local Plan: Regulation 18 Preferred Options Draft, carried out in February and March 2026.

As well as providing commentary on the notable issues raised through formal representations on the Draft Local Plan, this report also reflects some of the general feedback from various engagement events held or attended by Officers, as well as notable messages and themes picked up from comments circulating on social media and the local press.

The report then provides an initial indication of what Officers consider to be the main matters that are likely to require particular attention, additional work or potential changes in moving forward in the preparation of the next version of the Plan – the Regulation 19 Submission Version.

The Chairman (Councillor Guglielmi) commended Officers for how they engaged with the public during the 6 week consultation, with 5 drop-in sessions throughout the District and with a wealth of Officers on-hand who were there to answer questions and clarifying points from the hundreds of attendees and for the way Officers engaged with Parish and Town Councils across the District.

The Committee considered a comprehensive report of the Corporate Director (Planning & Community) (A.1) which provided it with a broad overview of the level and nature of responses received from residents and other stakeholders to the public consultation on the Local Plan: Regulation 18 Preferred Options Draft, carried out in February and March 2026.

As well as providing commentary on the notable issues raised through formal representations on the Draft Local Plan, that report also reflected some of the general feedback from various engagement events held or attended by Officers, as well as notable messages and themes picked up from comments circulating on social media and the local press.

The report then provided an initial indication of what Officers considered to be the main matters that were likely to require particular attention, additional work or potential changes in moving forward in the preparation of the next version of the Plan – the Regulation 19 Submission Version.

Members recalled that the Tendring District Local Plan: Preferred Options Draft had been published for six weeks consultation starting Monday 9 February and ending Monday 23 March 2026. During that consultation period, the Council had invited residents and other stakeholders to make formal representations on the policies and proposals in the Draft Local Plan knowing that there would likely be a significant level of objection, particularly from residents, to the considerable amount of additional housing development now having to be planned for across different parts of the District to comply with the Government’s challenging new mandatory housebuilding targets which had resulted in a near doubling of previous requirements.

As part of the consultation, Officers had held five public drop-in exhibitions across the District and had attended several public meetings organised by Town and Parish Councils or Ward Councillors as well as attending meetings with Town and Parish Councillors, both in public and private. Through those events and meetings, it was estimated that Officers had met and spoken to around seven hundred people; and whilst not everyone that attended an event or meeting would have necessarily submitted a written representation, Officers had noted key themes of discussion and had also been able to follow some of the comments that had circulated on social media platforms to gain a rounded view of the key issues of public interest and concern.

Members were aware that, under the planning regulations, Councils were required to take responses to the consultation into account in drawing up the final Submission Draft version of the Local Plan; and Officers had currently estimated that the Council had received duly-made representations from just over 620 individuals or organisations raising a variety of concerns, objections or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This report provides an early indication of Officers’ emerging thoughts on potential next steps – including provisional recommendations for changes to the Draft Local Plan and additional work to strengthen the technical evidence base.

The report also sets out the revised housebuilding requirement for an adjusted 17-year period 2026-2043, based on an updated calculation using the Government’s standard methodology and taking into account the Council’s updated housing land supply position at 1 April 2026. 

Given the very tight timescales for progressing the Local Plan to the next stage of the statutory plan-making process, the Committee’s early consideration of the matters set out in this report, and its direction on the provisional approach to next steps and potential changes to the Local Plan, will enable Officers to progress work without delay on both the revised ‘Submission Version’ of Local Plan and the supporting evidence-base.

This report focusses mainly on potential changes to site allocations, on a provisional basis, but also touches on notable areas of policy that may require revisions or further development. The intention is that the revised Submission Version of the Local Plan, containing the detailed set of revised policies and maps, will return for the Committee’s consideration in late Summer of this year, ahead of a Full Council decision to proceed to the next round of formal consultation.

As mentioned above in Minute 6, after the short adjournment, Mrs Hastings the Council's Monitoring Officer confirmed that following the declaration of interest on Report A2, that the land shown coloured blue as referred to in the Update Sheet, was owned by her son, that fell within the definition of a Non-Registerable Interest.  As the matter affected a financial interest or well-being of a relative, therefore in accordance with the Code of Conduct, Councillor Chapman left the room and would not participate in this item and its deliberations.

The Committee considered a detailed report (A.2) of the Corporate Director (Planning & Community) which provided it with an early indication of Officers’ emerging thoughts on potential next steps – including provisional recommendations for changes to the Draft Local Plan and additional work to strengthen the technical evidence base.

The report also set out the revised housebuilding requirement for an adjusted 17-year period 2026-2043, based on an updated calculation using the Government’s standard methodology and taking into account the Council’s updated housing land supply position at 1 April 2026. 

Given the very tight timescales for progressing the Local Plan to the next stage of the statutory plan-making process, the Committee’s early consideration of the matters set out in this report, and its direction on the provisional approach to next steps and potential changes to the Local Plan, would enable Officers to progress work without delay on both the revised ‘Submission Version’ of Local Plan and the supporting evidence-base.

The report focussed mainly on potential changes to site allocations, on a provisional basis, but also touched on notable areas of policy that might require revisions or further development. The intention was that the revised Submission Version of the Local Plan, containing the detailed set of revised policies and maps, would be submitted for the Committee’s consideration in late Summer of 2026, ahead of a Full Council decision to proceed to the next round of formal consultation.

Adjustments to the Local Plan timeframe and housebuilding requirement

The Committee was informed that one of the recommendations in this report (A.2) was to adjust the proposed timeframe for the Local Plan in the  Submission Version to cover the 17-year period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2043; and for the total housebuilding requirement for that period to be revised to reflect an updated calculation using the Government’s standard methodology – giving a total requirement of 18,173 homes based on the adjusted annual requirement of 1,069 (up from 1,063 in the Preferred Options Draft).

The adjustment to the plan period reflected the requirement in national planning policy for Local Plans to cover a minimum of 15 years from the anticipated date of adoption. Based on an expected adoption before April 2028, this necessitated extending the end date of the Plan to March 2043. This revised timeframe also brought Tendring’s Local Plan into broad alignment with those being prepared by neighbouring authorities, including Colchester and Braintree, which was beneficial in the context of Local Government Reorganisation and the need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To seek the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee’s comments on, and agreement to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, and to set out the changes from the original 2018 RAMS strategy. The report also seeks the Committee’s agreement to the updated governance framework supporting Essex Coast RAMS, including the withdrawal of the existing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its replacement with a Technical Advice Note (TAN).

The Committee considered a report (A.3) of the Corporate Director (Planning & Community) which sought the Committee’s agreement to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, and which set out the changes from the original 2018 RAMS strategy. The report also sought the Committee’s agreement to the updated governance framework supporting Essex Coast RAMS, including the withdrawal of the existing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its replacement with a Technical Advice Note (TAN).

Following such approval by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, as attached in Appendix 1, (replacing the existing 2018–2038 Strategy), would be submitted to Cabinet for formal adoption

The Committee was reminded that the Essex Coast RAMS set out how the Council, working in partnership with other Essex authorities, would protect the unique wildlife of the Essex coastline whilst enabling new homes and development to come forward.

It provided a co-ordinated, partnership-led approach to mitigating the recreational impacts of new residential development on protected coastal habitats and bird populations, ensuring that planned housing growth across Essex could take place in a lawful and sustainable way, whilst safeguarding sensitive species and habitats protected by international nature conservation designations.

The strategy established a strategic framework to address the in-combination effects of residential development on internationally designated coastal habitats and enabled the Council, in its role as Competent Authority, to meet its statutory duties under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017(as amended).

It was reported that RAMS funding had already delivered tangible mitigation measures along the Tendring coastline, including the Coastal Ranger Service, targeted visitor engagement and behaviour change initiatives, and partnership projects such as Share Our Shores to protect beach-nesting birds. Those interventions, supported by ongoing monitoring, had demonstrably improved ecological outcomes and were particularly important in managing peak seasonal visitor pressures.

The updated Strategy was supported by a refreshed evidence base, including a new visitor survey, and introduced significant changes to the scale and duration of mitigation required. Most notably, it ensured mitigation was secured for the full lifetime of development and reflected a substantial increase in planned housing growth across the Zone of Influence (ZOI) arising from the Government’s revised mandatory housing targets. As a result, the RAMS tariff was proposed to increase to £476 per dwelling (or qualifying unit), ensuring that the full cost of mitigation was applied in a fair and proportionate manner.

The report also sought approval to withdraw the existing RAMS Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and replace it with a Technical Advice Note (TAN), ensuring the guidance remained up to date and consistent across the Essex Coast RAMS partnership.

At the meeting, the Planning Policy Team Leader, assisted by the Planning Policy Officer, introduced the report.

Officers then responded to the following questions/concerns/queries et cetera from Committee Members:-

·       Was it correct to say that there would be a one off charge and no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.