Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Harty.

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

There were no declarations of interest made.

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

The Minutes of the Planning Policy Committee held on 30 January 2024 were approved and signed by the Chair.

            The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent items for this meeting.

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

          There were no public questions.

To seek Committee’s approval that the draft Direction of Travel Document be published for public consultation 25 March 2024 for six weeks closing 6 May 2024 in order to progress the update to the Arun Local Plan.

The Chair invited the Planning Policy and Conservation Manager to present the report to the Committee.  The report sought approval to publish the draft Direction of Travel Document (DoT) for public consultation between 25 March 2024 and 6 May 2024.  The public consultation would invite the public to provide their ideas for inclusion in the Arun Local Plan.  He referred to both the stakeholders workshops and the member workshops that had taken place to shape the DoT.

He advised that since the member workshops had taken place officers had received suggested changes to the wording of the DoT, details of which are provided below (indicated in bold and strikethrough): 

1.    Page 31, Section 5.2, Bullet Point 2: Accommodating the mitigating the impacts of any future A27 Arundel bypass scheme (currently delayed to 2025 – 2030 in National Highways’ Road Investment Strategy) which is expected to have a significant impact in Arun in terms of the landscape, biodiversity, and tranquillity

The above amendment to the DoT was proposed by Councillor McAuliffe and seconded by Councillor Tandy.

The Planning Policy and Conservation Manager confirmed that officers would tidy up the text to ensure there was no repetition.

Members then discussed the proposed amendment, in particular the economic benefits the A27 Arundel bypass scheme would bring to the District, and impacts on the District’s economy located south of the A27.    He confirmed that the DoT included reference to Arun’s economy and transport in other sections of the document.  It also addressed connectivity and the necessity for the A27 corridor to connect Arun with neighbouring local authorities for economic purposes and to enable travel around the District itself, in relation to connectivity and strategic movements, which included the area south of the A27 corridor.  The Chair advised that minor amendments could still be made to the document after this meeting. 

     The Planning Policy and Conservation Manager provided details of the remaining suggested amendments (set out below) he had received from members and sought comments from members.  Following which confirmation was sought from the above proposer and seconder as to whether they agreed to include these amendments.

2.    Page 21 Section 3.6 Bullet Point 1: “Reducing the need for over-reliance on cars and promoting sustainable forms of transport” 

A member commented that repetition in the DoT referencing other areas of the document could be useful when reading only parts of the document. Another member commented that, if this was the case, there should be a consistency of wording throughout the document.

3.    Page 21 Section 3.6 Bullet Point 2: “Ensuring neighbourhoods havethe option to access to all they need, easily within 20- minutes via walking, cycling and public transport” 

4.    Page 21 Section 3.6 Bullet Point 4: “Ensuring people, especially those with an existing connection to Arun,can access quality housing that they can afford which meets their needs flexibly through their lifetime” 

5.    Page 41 Section 6.13 Bullet Point 9: Delivering an ambitious affordable housing target including for rent, shared  ...  view the full minutes text for item 678.