Agenda item

To update the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee on the work intended to be carried out for the preparation of a ‘Development Plan Document’ (DPD) for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community which will guide its future growth and development.

Councillor C Guglielmi  had earlier declared an interest in relation to Agenda Item 7 – Report A.1- Section 1 Local Plan: Planning Inspector's Post-Hearing Letter and in relation to Agenda Item 8 – Report A.2 - Colchester Tendring Borders Garden Community - Development Plan Document as he was an alternate director for the NEGC.

The Committee had before it a comprehensive report (and appendix) of the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) (A.2) which sought to update the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee on the work intended to be carried out for the preparation of a ‘Development Plan Document’ (DPD) for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community which would guide its future growth and development.

Key Points

· Of the three Garden Communities that were originally proposed in the shared Section 1 Local Plan for North Essex, only the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community was found, by the Planning Inspector, to be de deliverable and sound.

· Assuming all three of the North Essex Authorities (Tendring, Braintree and Colchester) agreed to proceed with consultation on the Inspector’s recommended modifications to the Section 1 Local Plan (as explained in Report A1), it was intended that a ‘Development Plan Document’ (DPD) would be prepared jointly by Tendring District Council and Colchester Borough Council which would contain more detailed parameters and policies to guide the development of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

Members were informed that The North Essex Authorities which included Braintree, Colchester and Tendring Councils had then received the Inspector’s report that outlined his views on the soundness of each authority’s Section 1 Local Plan. While the Inspector had concluded that he did not find the Colchester Braintree Borders and West of Braintree Garden Communities to be deliverable, he did conclude that development of the Tendring/Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC) had enabled the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework’s policies.

On that basis, Tendring and Colchester had wished to proceed with the next stages of plan-making for the Garden Community which would involve the preparation of a Development Plan Document (DPD) to guide development. The DPD provided the next level of detail required to progress the overall high-level Garden Community principles mandated by Section 1. Adoption of the DPD would entail joint working between the Councils, in consultation with stakeholders at all stages of plan development. It was expected that the DPD would be a joint planning document adopted by both Councils.

It was reported to the Committee that an initial consultation on Issues and Options was held on TCBGC from November 2017-January 2018. The study work and responses from that consultation form a starting point for the next phase of work, bearing in mind the changes during the intervening period. In addition to Section 1 Local Plan developments, key amongst the changes was the Councils’ successful bid for £99K, the Officer corrected this in his reports as the funding was actually £99 million, in Housing Infrastructure Funding for an A120/A133 link road and a Rapid Transit Scheme to support the Garden Community. Work undertaken to inform the HIF projects had been carried out with the requirements of the Garden Community and its DPD in mind, so studies and masterplans completed for these essential infrastructure projects would feed into the DPD process.

The Councils would work together to commission further evidence base and masterplanning work required to support the DPD. As with masterplanning work carried out for the Issues and Options stage, work would include focused consultation with stakeholders and existing communities in the vicinity of TCB GC.

The precise timetable for the DPD was not then fixed but the Local Development Scheme would be brought back to the Committee as required for scrutiny, with adoption currently programmed for 2022.

Having duly considered and discussed the contents of the report and its appendices:-

It was moved by Councillor C Guiglielmi, seconded by Councillor J Chapman and unanimously:-

RESOLVED that the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee noted the proposals for preparation of a Development Plan Document (DPD) for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.