Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF. View directions

Contact: Andrew Bishop (Ext. 37984) 

Items
No. Item

475.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for Absence had been received from Councillors Charles, Goodheart, Jones and Yeates.

476.

Declarations of Interest

Members and Officers are invited to make any declaration of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda, and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the items or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

 

Members and Officers should make their declaration by stating:

 

a)             the item they have the interest in

b)             whether it is a pecuniary/personal interest and/or prejudicial interest

c)             the nature of the interest

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

477.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 320 KB

The Committee will be asked to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Planning Policy Committee held on 6 October 2021.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 September 2021 were approved by the Committee and signed by the Chair.

478.

ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA THAT THE CHAIR OF THE MEETING IS OF THE OPINION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A MATTER OF URGENCY BY REASON OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent items.

479.

Public Question Time

To receive questions from the public (for a period of up to 15 minutes).

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there had been no questions from the public submitted for this meeting.

480.

To 'make' the Barnham and Eastergate Neighbourhood Development Plan (Review) 2019-2031 pdf icon PDF 310 KB

The Barnham and Eastergate Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 passed Examination in October 2021.  The Examiner of this modified Plan concluded that the Plan passed the Examination and that the material modifications do not change the nature of the Plan and it does not require a Referendum so should proceed to be ‘made’.

 

This ‘making’ of the plan will give it legal force and it will form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area.  Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area will need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Development Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Minutes:

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader presented the report. He explained that the Barnham and Eastergate Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 passed examination in October 2021 and the examiner concluded that its material modifications did not change the nature of the plan and therefore it did not require a referendum before proceeding to be ‘made’. This ‘making’ of the plan would give it legal force and it would form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area. Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area would need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Development Plan unless material considerations indicated otherwise.

 

The Chair and Vice-Chair thanked the whole team and wanted to recognise the significant amount of work involved in bringing this plan to fruition.

 

The recommendation was then proposed and seconded.

 

The Committee

 

RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL

 

That it ‘makes’ the Barnham and Eastergate Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 and it becomes part of the Development Plan for Arun District Council.

481.

First Homes Policy pdf icon PDF 459 KB

This report asks Members to recommend that Full Council agree a proposed approach to implementing the Government’s 30% ‘First Homes Policy’ as part of the affordable housing tenure mix in Policy AH SP2 Affordable Housing and Policy H DM1 Housing Mix.

Minutes:

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader presented his report and explained the proposed approach to implementing the Government’s 30% ‘First Homes policy as part of the affordable housing tenure mix in Policy AH SP2 Affordable Housing and Policy H DM1 Housing Mix of the Local Plan. He also outlined concerns about the accessibility of the product given income levels in Arun.

 

Members then took part in a full debate on the item where a number of points were raised including:

·       the scope and mix of housing (apartments, houses etc) and whether a range of property types was intended to be offered

·       the implications or limitations when a property purchased in this way is sold on, and the discount being maintained through future sales

·       the affordability of the scheme for younger people

·       whether the figures in the policy could be revised if house prices continued to rise

·       concerns over second homes and changes to working caused by the pandemic and potential impacts for Arun

·       the relationship with the Local Plan, and whether it was included or separate from the affordable housing allocations of the Local Plan

 

The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader provided Members with responses to all points raised during the debate. He highlighted that all housing development schemes and their mix of affordable properties would be different depending on the Council’s identified local housing needs set out in the Local Plan supporting evidence base, as well as the needs of the market, and that the discount would entered into the deeds of the property by the Land Registry.

 

The recommendation was then proposed and seconded.

 

The Committee

 

RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL

 

The proposed approach to accommodating the Government’s ‘First Homes’ policy requirement, as part of the Affordable Housing tenure mix provision in Arun, as set out in section 1.12 and Appendix 1 of the report and that it should be published as an interim policy statement on the Council’s web site.

482.

Southern Water Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan Consultation pdf icon PDF 304 KB

Southern Water are in the process of preparing the first Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP) and have reached the early scoping consultation stage. A full formal public consultation on the DWMP will be undertaken in the summer 2022.

 

This report, therefore, seeks agreement that the provisional comments summarised in this report (fully amplified in the officer provisional letter of response sent by the due deadline [Appendix 1]) and any other matters raised by Members forms the basis for the Council’s response to the documents published for consultation from 21 September to midnight on 26 October.

Minutes:

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader presented his report. He explained that Southern Water were in the process of preparing their first Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP) and had reached the early scoping consultation stage. Following workshops with Officers, the provisional comments summarised in the report and any further matters raised by Members would form the basis for the Council’s response to the documents published for consultation. He highlighted particular concerns mentioned in the response, including wastewater capacity and storm water discharging, Pagham harbour and water neutrality, the need for strategic guidance in the area to support higher design standards with regards water efficiency, climate change and carbon reduction and the potential for water storage and nature-based solutions.

 

Members then took part in a full debate on the item where a number of points were raised and responded to by Officers including:

·       this being a strategic issue not just for Arun, and questions over the role being played by and consultation with the Strategic Planning Board

·       the need for more to be made of Arun being a tourist economy and the impacts to the economy when water quality is negatively impacted

·       regeneration being hampered by a private company not doing what they should be doing

·       the District’s Victorian plumbing and the recent growth in housing numbers

·       concern that, in the data provided in the report, Ford is clearly at the bottom and in need of urgent attention in terms of water treatment

·       strengthening the messages around blockages which were a significant problem, wet wipes being a key element and the need for something to be done nationally to stop this happening

·       Arun being in a lesser position to challenge Southern Water than other Authorities

·       the Environment Agency and actions at Pagham Harbour

·       climate change and the predicted extra rainfall causing significant problems in the future, and the need to keep extra rainwater out of the system

·       the need for an emphasis on the impact new housing developments would have on worsening pre-existing sewage and wastewater issues that were not being dealt with now

·       untreated sewage going into Pagham harbour and being strong with Southern Water about what needs to be done

·       the re-commissioning of redundant assets, as mentioned in the report

·       tidal and pumped water storage and nature-based solutions, and too much of a focus on keeping water on the land when perhaps we should focus on getting it off the land

·       whether more on-land water storage could lead to more flooding

·       discharges on the eastern side of the District, and the impact on draining capacities of developments in neighbouring Authorities and whether concerns over these impacts could be strengthened around the Ferring Rife

·       whether nature-based solution, for example, would need to be delivered through the planning system and paid for through development, and Southern Water’s role as a stakeholder and in providing infrastructure

 

The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader provided Members with responses to all points raised during  ...  view the full minutes text for item 482.

483.

Local Plan Evidence Update pdf icon PDF 310 KB

This report updates Members on the remaining evidence position, on whether any further studies to those already committed, should be commissioned should they not be affected by planning reforms (following the Planning Policy Committee 6 October meeting which agreed under the ‘Arun Local Plan Update’ item, to recommend Option 3 to Full Council i.e., to pause plan making).

Minutes:

[During the debate, Councillor Elkins declared a Personal Interest as a Member of Ferring Parish Council.]

 

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader presented his report which updated Members on the remaining evidence position and whether any further studies to those already committed to should be commissioned following the decision at Planning Policy Committee on 6 October [Minute 338] and Full Council on 10 November [Minute 422] to pause the preparation of a revised Local Plan until details of the new plan making system be agreed. He also noted a typo in Table 1 under the Housing Economic Development Needs Assessment (HEDNA) Study, which should read ‘the prescribed formula’ rather than ‘the proscribed formula’.

 

Members then took part in a full debate on the item where a number of points were raised including:

·       support for the conclusions of Officers to halt or not start many studies as most of the studies started with a need to know housing numbers which could not be known at this point, and may have led to expensive studies needing to be repeated

·       support for certain studies being progressed now (Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, Heritage and Conservation Area studies) and how these could possibly help determine current planning applications under the current Local Plan

·       whether the Infrastructure Development Plan should be progressed, as the District has infrastructure issues now that crop up in planning applications, and whether identifying these now would go some way to dealing with issues now and help inform future works

·       concern that the Active Travel Study was being put on hold, and why this study was dependent on new housing numbers when there was a need for it now and sufficient funding coming from new development

·       the need for guidance to Parish Councils of the work they could do rather than pausing everything whilst the Local Plan updates are paused

·       the importance of infrastructure to residents and the usefulness of an update on the work of Transport for the South East

 

The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader provided Members with responses to all points raised during the debate and amended the Officer recommendation in response to issues raised around infrastructure requirements arising from non-strategic development.

 

The recommendation was then proposed and seconded.

 

The Committee

 

RESOLVED

 

That the conclusion in section 1.5 of the report be agreed as the basis for work programming the pending evidence studies, and that a further topic paper be prepared alongside those infrastructure studies listed in section 1.4 of the report to scope out the need for further studies on infrastructure requirements arising from non-strategic development to inform Development Management decisions.

484.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 206 KB

The Committee is required to note the Work Programme for 2021/22.

Minutes:

The Planning Policy and Conservation Team Leader outlined items coming to future meetings. The Chair raised the absence of Key Performance Indicators being reported to the Committee. The Committee then noted the Work Programme.