Decision details

The Chair invited the Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader to present his report. The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader explained that these Development Management Policies were updated with a priority emphasis on sustainability after the Council’s decision to update the Local Plan. These policies had been compared against emerging best practice and national policy in order to identify a need to update them, and from a list of 42 policies, 28 had been identified as needing updating and which were attached in the Appendix to the report. The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader advised Members that this was an initial piece of work that would now be consulted upon with other stakeholders.

The Chair invited comments from Members which included whether flexibility could be built into these policies so that they could better keep up to date with often changing Central Government policy going forward, the need to find solutions to availability of strategic sites and the need for more detail of the areas being looked at under ‘protection of landscape character’ [LAN DM1]. The Director and Place and Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader provided answers to the queries raised and, in response to a Member asking about making specific comment on individual policies, confirmed that this was an indicative list that would now be circulated for engagement with other authorities and that Members could contribute via the consultation process later in the year.

The recommendations were then proposed and seconded.

The Committee

                     RESOLVED

that the Schedule of Development Management Polices set out in Appendix 1 is the early basis for identifying the priority order of DM polices (including a limited number of relevant Strategic Policies) that will need updating and form the basis of engagement with the community and wider stakeholders