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

There were no apologies for absence submitted nor substitutes appointed on this occasion.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the Minutes of the previous meeting of the Joint Committee, held on Thursday 1 May 2025.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on Thursday 1^st May 2025 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Members of the Joint Committee 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.

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members of the Joint Committee on this occasion.

To present the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC) Joint Committee (hereafter the Joint Committee) with a planning application for the erection of two detached buildings (each of which are sub-divided to make a total of four units) for use under Class B8 (Storage and Distribution).

The report explains the background and rationale for the Officers’ recommendation, highlighting a range of planning considerations including the principle of development, the impact to the landscape character, highway safety, and impact to neighbouring amenities.

The report then provides the Joint Committee with a recommendation and invites this to be considered and discussed prior to a decision being made.

This report was not considered by the Joint Committee as planning application 25/00682/FUL had been withdrawn by the applicant.

To provide background and an update to the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC) Joint Committee to note for information purposes key forward funded transport infrastructure delivery on site or associated with TCBGC. The report outlines the infrastructure that has been completed or commenced to date, in addition to setting out next steps noting that a detailed assessment of the impacts of the development can only be fully undertaken once all planning documentation has been submitted by the applicant.

The Joint Committee considered a detailed report that provided background and an update to note for information purposes on key forward funded transport infrastructure delivery on site or associated with TCBGC. The report outlined the infrastructure that had been completed or commenced to date, in addition to setting out next steps noting that a detailed assessment of the impacts of the development could only be fully undertaken once all planning documentation had been submitted by the applicant.

Members were aware that the Development Plan Document (DPD) adopted to underpin the consideration and determination of any planning application for development at TCBGC included GC Policy 7 and GC Policy 9 that required the delivery of necessary infrastructure. The scale and nature of a Garden Community development meant that there was a need for significant infrastructure improvements to enable the full growth potential to be secured in a sustainable manner.

The Joint Committee recalled that planning and delivering the required infrastructure was at the heart of sustainable development for the Garden Community and the DPD required that proposals must demonstrate that the required infrastructure to support development would be delivered in a timely and, where appropriate, phased manner.

Members were reminded that, in 2019 Essex County Council (ECC) had successfully bid for funding from the Government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) to enable the early delivery of elements of significant infrastructure improvements at TCBGC. HIF funding had been secured to deliver the following pieces of strategic transport infrastructure:

The Colchester Rapid Transit System (RTS)

This new public transport system would run through the Garden Community and link the development into destinations in Colchester including the university, the city centre, the mainline railway station and the hospital. The RTS infrastructure, funded by HIF, included new segregated bus lanes and crossing points for cycling and pedestrians as well as new signalised junctions. The objective of the RTS was to provide a transformational public transport offer that provided an attractive, reliable, and affordable alternative to car travel and helped to meet TCBGC’s ambitious modal share targets.

Phase 1 of the new A1331 Link Road

Once complete, the A1331 would connect to the Strategic Road Network by linking the A120 with the A133. The new road would help people to more easily access the A120 and A12 and reduce the need to travel through the urban area of Colchester, managing congestion and improving air quality in sensitive areas. The new A1331 Link Road was an important element of TCBGC, unlocking sustainable growth in the area.

It was reported that advanced progress across both schemes had been strong. The HIF funded RTS infrastructure was now largely delivered with works on the Northern Approach Road and Clingoe Hill completed. Phase 1 of the A1331 was also progressing and was due to complete in Summer 2026.

Members were aware that the original commitment had been to fund and deliver the A1331 Link Road in its entirety.  However, since the first award of the Government's HIF in 2019, the cost of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

This report seeks agreement from the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC) Joint Committee (“the Joint Committee”) to a Scheme of Delegation setting out the type of planning decisions to be delegated to Officers and those that will remain for consideration by the Joint Committee – having regard to standard practice and the Joint Committee’s terms of reference.

The Joint Committee considered a detailed report that sought its agreement to a Scheme of Delegation setting out the type of planning decisions to be delegated to Officers and those that would remain for consideration by the Joint Committee – having regard to standard practice and the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

Members were reminded that the Terms of Reference for the Joint Committee at paragraph 4.6 permitted the powers of delegation contained in section 101(2) of the Local Government Act 1972, to be exercised.  To date a Scheme of Delegation had not been proposed due to the nature of the decision-making responsibilities that had so far rested with the Joint Committee.  Those had been mainly focussed on the plan-making process in respect of the Development Plan Document (DPD).  The strategic and policy setting decisions for the Garden Community, including endorsement of the DPD and the granting of relevant planning permissions, were decisions for the elected Members of the Joint Committee rather than Officers, given the significance of the development and its cross-border nature.

It was reported that there were however planning-related functions of an operational and technical nature that required speedy resolution and which, for most other developments within the respective authorities, were typically delegated to Officers through an agreed Scheme of Delegation.  With the DPD having now been adopted in May/June 2025, the Garden Community project had progressed into the Development Management phase of the planning process involving the consideration and determination of planning applications.

In the light of the progression of the programme, and as anticipated in the Joint Committee’s Terms of Reference, a comprehensive Scheme of Delegation to Officers had been prepared for the Committee’s consideration and approval.

Members were informed that the committee process represented a very significant investment in scarce capacity and resources by each of the partner authorities and it was therefore critical, given the opportunity cost of that time, that this investment was targeted to have the greatest benefit for the communities that the Councils served. This reflected the need to make the most efficient use of Officer and Member time at the Joint Committee by focusing on the most sensitive and complex applications.

The Joint Committee was reminded that, generally, it was considered best practice by the Planning Advisory Service (the Government’s appointed experts in planning matters) that approximately 95% of planning applications were determined by Officers.  Nationally, decisions on 96% of applications had been made by officers in Quarter 2 2024 with committees focusing on the largest or most controversial applications, figures consistent with local decision making. Furthermore, all three partner authorities (i.e. Tendring District Council (TDC), Colchester City Council (CCC) and Essex County Council (ECC)) already had established Schemes of Delegation in place for planning matters.

For the Garden Community development, it was considered appropriate for important decisions to be taken by the Joint Committee and therefore only selected types of decisions of a more minor, technical and time constrained nature were suggested for delegation to Officers.  This would allow  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.