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

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Bush.

An apology was also submitted on behalf of the Housing and Planning Portfolio Holder (Councillor Baker), who had a standing invitation, under Council Procedure Rule 36.1, to attend meetings of this Committee and to express the views of the Council’s Executive on strategic planning issues.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on Monday 8 December 2025.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Monday 8 December 2025, 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 report A.1, Councillor Scott declared an Interest in respect of new non-strategic policy PPL12b (St. Osyth Priory) insofar as he was a Trustee of the St. Osyth Priory Education Trust. However, he stated that this would not affect his ability to impartially consider the contents of report A.1.

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 specific Officer report 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 on the Officer report (A.1).

A resident of Great Bentley, Chris Morris, attended and made an oral statement in relation to report A.1 of the Corporate Director for Planning and Community, and specifically future housing in Great Bentley. His statement touched upon the following matters:-

·      main concern was the impact of the traffic and parking in the centre of the village, near the railway line and primary school;

·      in recent years, in the region of 500 new dwellings had been constructed on various sites around the village, and it was evident that vehicle movement and parking, particularly in the centre and along Plough Road to the north had subsequently increased. 

·      situation around the school was particularly dangerous as the school, Tesco Express, garage, bakery/cafe all had no areas for parking.  In addition, there were two junctions, New Cut and Station Road, which increased the problem;

·      several of the areas being considered were further from the village centre - in particular, the proposed extension to the Taylor Wimpey site and the proposed Hills residential site north of Weeley Road.  Even though those two sites would have to provide footpaths, many residents would, inevitably, drive to the school, shops, station, etc. due to the distance.   The sites south of the village would, however, result in less traffic as they were within comfortable walking distance of those facilities;

·      understood that the Parish Council had suggested the proposed sites on the northern side of the village were the preferred option, but this was based on the opinion of a handful of people who had attended the recent Parish Council meeting and was not, he felt, representative of the village; and

·      had recently lodged an objection to planning application 25/01066/OUT for up to 80 houses on the south of Weeley Road and, as part of that, had submitted a petition from local residents who all had concerns about the potential hazard with the excessive traffic problem that already existed.

Prior to the commencement of the meeting a resident of Brightlingsea, Mat Court, had submitted the following written statement, which had been circulated by the Democratic Services Manager to the members of the Committee:-

“My name is Mat Court. I am a Brightlingsea resident and former town councillor. I am submitting this statement to ensure my comments are formally recorded at this stage of the Local Plan process.

I appreciate that this meeting is not about confirming or removing site allocations, but about progressing the draft plan towards consultation. However, I believe it is important that concerns about specific sites are clearly placed on the record now, particularly where the Council’s own evidence identifies significant constraints.

I want to focus on site SAH4 in Brightlingsea, the proposed allocation of approximately 300 homes on land at the northern end of Samsons Road, to the east of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To present the Tendring District Local Plan – Preferred Options Draft to the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee and to seek its agreement for this document, along with the associated evidence base (including the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitat Regulations Assessment and other relevant technical studies) to be recommended for approval by Full Council to proceed to formal public consultation in line with Regulation 18 of the statutory plan-making process.

The Preferred Options Draft for the first time contains the full suite of planning policies and detailed policies maps recommended by Officers; incorporating and reflecting the spatial strategy, locations and sites for growth that were agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 8 December 2025 and the overarching guiding principles established at the beginning of the Local Plan review process.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 23 above, Councillor Scott had declared an Interest in respect of new non-strategic policy PPL12b (St. Osyth Priory) insofar as he was a Trustee of the St. Osyth Priory Education Trust. However, he had stated that this would not affect his ability to impartially consider the contents of report A.1.

The Committee considered a comprehensive report of the Corporate Director (Planning and Community) (A.1) which presented the Tendring District Local Plan – Preferred Options Draft and which sought the Committee’s agreement for this document, along with the associated evidence base (including the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitat Regulations Assessment and other relevant technical studies) to be recommended for approval by Full Council to proceed to formal public consultation in line with Regulation 18 of the statutory plan-making process.

Members were reminded that the Preferred Options Draft for the first time contained the full suite of planning policies and detailed policies maps recommended by Officers; incorporating and reflecting the spatial strategy, locations and sites for growth that had been agreed by the Committee at its meeting held on 8 December 2025 and the overarching guiding principles established at the beginning of the Local Plan review process.

The Committee was cognisant that the Local Plan would help guide the direction of growth and the shape of the Tendring area – not just in the coming years to address immediate pressures, but for future decades and generations to come. The choices made by the Council on the content of the Local Plan in 2026 would be more important than ever before as it would likely be the last one prepared by Tendring District Council before Local Government Reorganisation and the establishment of a new unitary authority in 2028. The timeframes for agreeing and carrying out consultation on the Local Plan and submitting a final version to the Secretary of State under the current plan-making system were extremely tight and the strict rules laid down by central Government in respect of mandatory housebuilding targets made the task even more challenging. However, choices over the location of growth and the content of policy were important decisions to be taken locally, by the elected Members of the Council, having considered the advice of their Officers and feedback from communities and other stakeholders.  

Members were aware that, in its role as a Local Planning Authority, the Council had a statutory duty to produce a Local Plan and to keep it up to date. The Local Plan was one of the most important documents the Council produced, setting out both the blueprint for future growth and the policies against which planning applications were determined. It was important for Councils to keep their Local Plans up to date to ensure they could manage the pattern of growth and quality of development to achieve sustainable development that weighed up economic, social and environmental factors and maximised the benefit to the existing local community and future generations.

Background

The Committee recognised that, over the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.