Agenda item

To invite Cabinet to consider and endorse the content of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan and its Sustainability Appraisals for consultation and submission to Government.

That Cabinet endorses the content of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan (as amended by the content of the Update Sheet provided to Members of the Local Plan Committee and to Cabinet) and its Sustainability Appraisals, as attached at Appendices A and B to the Report of the Leader of the Council.

Councillor Stock had earlier in the meeting declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item A.1 of the Report of the Leader of the Council insofar as he was a Director of the North Essex Garden Communities Ltd.

Councillor G V Guglielmi had earlier in the meeting declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item A.1 of the Report of the Leader of the Council insofar as:

(1)     he was a Director of the North Essex Garden Communities Ltd;

(2)     he was Chairman of the Development and Regulation Committee at Essex County Council; and

(3)     he was a Director of Lawford Housing Enterprise Trust.

Councillor Honeywood declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item A.1 of the Report of the Leader of the Council insofar as he was a Trustee of the John Gilders & Maskell Almshouses Trust

There was submitted a comprehensive report of the Leader of the Council which invited Cabinet to consider and endorse the content of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan and its Sustainability Appraisals for consultation and submission to Government. The Publication Draft Local Plan was attached as Appendix A; and the Sustainability Appraisals as Appendix B to that report. Those Appendices had also been considered by the Local Plan Committee at its meeting held on 12 June 2017. The Local Plan Committee Report, excluding its appendices was attached as Appendix C to the Leader of the Council’s report.

Members were aware that the consultation documents, subject to agreement by the Local Plan Committee, would be recommended to Full Council for approval at its meeting to be held on 15 June 2017. Subject to those approvals, the documents would then go out to public consultation for a period of six weeks and Officers would then submit those consultation responses and relevant documents to the Government for the next stage of the plan making process. 

Cabinet was aware that the Council was preparing a new Local Plan to guide future development in the Tendring District between now and 2033 and recognised that having an up-to-date plan was critical for creating job opportunities, attracting investment for improved infrastructure, protecting the environment and ensuring that the new homes required to meet the needs of a growing population were built in the right locations and achieved good standards of quality and design. Without an up-to-date plan it would be more difficult for the Council to secure investment and protect the District from unplanned developments.

The Committee had before it an update sheet which informed it of alterations and/or additions in respect of the following:

(i)            Local Maps;

(ii)           Living Places;

(iii)          Sustainable Places;

(iv)         Protected Places; and

(v)          Healthy Places

Cabinet was informed that the Local Plan Committee, at its meeting held on 12 June 2017, had decided –

“that the Committee -

1.       (a)          endorses the content of Section 1 of the Council’s Publication Draft Local Plan;

(b)          endorses the remaining chapters of Section 2 of the Council’s Publication Draft Local Plan, as set out in Appendix A and as amended by the Update Sheet which was circulated to Members on Friday 9 June 2017 and tabled at this meeting and including a full set of the Local Maps;

          (c)          endorses the amendments to those Chapters of Section 2 of the Council’s Publication Draft Local Plan already endorsed by Members at their meeting held on 20 April 2017 and as set out in the Update Sheet which was circulated to Members on Friday 9 June 2017 and tabled at this meeting;

2.         endorses the Sustainability Appraisals prepared by Place Services, as attached (and summarised) in Appendix C;

3.         refers Section 1 and the remaining chapters of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan, together with its decision on 20 April 2017, as amended by the Update Sheet which was circulated to Members on Friday 9 June 2017 and tabled at this meeting, to Cabinet as a complete document for consultation;

4.         delegates authority to the Head of Planning Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Local Plan Committee, to make  minor administrative corrections and changes to the Publication Draft Local Plan;  and

Recommends to Council that:

5.         the content of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan and Sustainability Appraisals be approved;

6.         a six-week public consultation and engagement process on the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan and its Sustainability Appraisals be undertaken;

7.         following said consultation and engagement, the Publication Draft Local Plan and Sustainability Appraisals, along with the representations received during the public consultation, be submitted to the Government’s Secretary of State to appoint a Planning Inspector to hold an Examination in Public; and

8.         Tendring District Council requests the Planning Inspector to recommend any changes to the Publication Draft Local Plan to make it sound.”

Having considered the information submitted and the advice of Officers contained within the report:

It was moved by Councillor Stock, seconded by Councillor G V Guglielmi and:

RESOLVED that Cabinet endorses the content of the Tendring District Council Publication Draft Local Plan (as amended by the content of the Update Sheet provided to Members of the Local Plan Committee and to Cabinet) and its Sustainability Appraisals, as attached at Appendices A and B to the Report of the Leader of the Council.