Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

Audio Recording

734.

Introduction

Minutes:

The Chairman explained that the meeting would be conducted in accordance with the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panel (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 No. 392.

 

The Chairman welcomed all Members, officers, members of the public and consultants Mark Aldridge, Simon Drummond-Hay, Cristina Howick and Richard Pestell to the meeting.

 

735.

Minutes

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 January 2020 (Minute Nos. 492 – 497) as a correct record and also the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meetings held on:

 

25 February 2020 (Minute Nos. 543 - 547)

7 May 2020 (Minute Nos. 659 – 667)

11 June 2020 (Minute Nos. 691 – 696) as correct records.

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 January 2020 (Minute Nos. 492 – 497) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

The Minutes of the Extraordinary Meetings held on 25 February 2020 (Minute Nos. 543 – 547), 7 May 2020 (Minute Nos. 659 – 667) and 11 June 2020 (Minute Nos. 691 – 696) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to recording Councillor Elliott Jayes as being in attendance as a visiting Member at the meeting held on 11 June 2020.

736.

Change in Membership of the Panel

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Elliott Jayes to the Local Plan Panel.  Councillor Jayes replaced Councillor Richard Palmer.

737.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

 

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

 

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

 

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

 

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

 

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

 

 

Minutes:

Councillor Eddie Thomas declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest in respect of item 4 on the agenda (Neighbourhood Planning Update) as he was a member of Faversham Town Council.

 

Councillor Carole Jackson declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest in respect of item 4 on the agenda (Neighbourhood Planning Update) as she was a member of Faversham Town Council.

 

738.

Neighbourhood Planning Update pdf icon PDF 52 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Planning explained that following discussion with the Monitoring Officer, the recommendation in the report needed to be amended.  He said that as the Local Plan Panel had no executive powers, it was considered that the Cabinet Member for Planning could make the decision whether the Council accepted the neighbourhood plan designation, after the consultation deadline of 27 July 2020. 

 

The Planner introduced the report which provided an update on the consultation on the application made by Faversham Town Council to designate the whole town as a neighbourhood area for the purpose of the creation of a neighbourhood development plan, and also to inform on the next steps.  He reported that one representation had been received so far which was neither in support or against.

 

Recommended:

 

(1)      That the approval of Faversham Town Council’s application to designate the Town of Faversham as a neighbourhood area be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Planning, and any comments from the Local Plan Panel be taken into account, plus any representations made, when making the decision.

739.

Local Housing Needs Assessment (standard method) pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Manager introduced the report which presented revised papers following submission of the Local Housing Needs assessment report to the Local Plan Panel in February 2020.  Members had expressed concern that the report had been too technical and could be clearer.  Comments and questions from Members were submitted to the consultants and the report had subsequently been amended.  The Planning Policy Manager said the report’s conclusion remained the same.  Members’ endorsement of the reports was sought as part of the local plan review evidence base.

 

The Chairman invited Members to make comments.

 

A Member referred to the projections in Appendix I, on page 17 of the agenda pack.  He noted the 2022 date and said that the situation could change and the Local Plan could be delayed, and this could then impact the projected figures.  He asked whether the projected date could be extended further into the future?  Richard Pestell explained that they had worked with 2022 as that was the start date for the next Local Plan.  He acknowledged that there could be a delay.  Using dates beyond 2022 would result in even more sets of projected figures to consider.  He felt the projections to be proportionate at the moment.

 

The Vice-Chairman thanked the consultants for the questions they had answered in the document.  She asked whether there could be an impact from increased migration (from Hong Kong for example) and whether this would have an impact on population statistics and whether this had been looked into?  Mr Pestell said that there was no data or information from the Government on this at the moment.  The Vice-Chairman suggested a watching brief be kept.  Mr Pestell agreed and added that there was a reasonable range within the projections for future-proofing.  In response, the Vice-Chairman suggested that nearer the time, there might need to be an update on the figures.  The Planning Policy Manager explained that the housing figure would not be fixed until the draft Local Plan was submitted, and so there would be updates to achieve a definitive figure.

 

Recommended:

 

(1)      That the content of the report and the Local Housing Needs Assessment in Appendix I be noted.

740.

Strategic Housing Market Needs Assessment pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Housing Market Needs presentation published 09.07.20.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Manager introduced the report which set out detailed information about the size profile and the tenure split for the period 2022 to 2038 for new dwellings, and presented the headline findings of this key piece of evidence base.

 

Simon Drummond-Hay and Mark Aldridge from HDH Planning and Development gave a presentation on Housing Market Assessment, which had previously been emailed to Members and added to the website.  Mr Drummond-Hay started by saying there were four key elements to the report, and these included: the overall housing need; overall housing need by tenure and size; affordable need; and need of specific groups.  He and Mark Aldridge then presented the slides and Mr Aldridge highlighted the following in his conclusion:

 

·         Annual affordable housing need of 287 per year represents 27.7% of the annual dwelling growth of 1,038 - no adjustment is required to the standard method figure;

·         future tenure split: 72.8% market, 18.0% of housing to be Affordable Rented and 9.1% affordable home ownership (of which 4.2% could be Shared Ownership and 4.9% Help-to-Buy/ Starter Homes); and

·         516 additional units of sheltered housing for older people and 305 Registered Care spaces over plan period.

 

Members were invited to make comments and ask questions.

 

A Member referred to page 74 in the report, and to the affordable housing need in Swale being 287 units.  He considered this to be a low figure and asked how much Universal Credit, Brexit and Covid-19 had been taken into account?  Mr Drummond-Hay read-out a section from one of the slides: ‘an increase in the total housing figures included in the plan may need to be considered where it could help deliver the required number of affordable homes.’  Mr Drummond-Hay said that housing numbers had previously been realised by the methodology of objectively assessed need for housing, and developers had tried to get a higher figure so more of their sites were included in the plan.  Now, with the standard method, that opportunity was lost, but developers could have the opportunity to go for affordable need, and if they were successful, the solution was to have a higher housing number in the overall plan, so 30 in every 100 houses could be affordable housing.  He said the current need was the waiting list; and the newly arising need was from the newly formed households, and he outlined the calculations that were carried out to achieve the required figure.  Mr Drummond-Hay acknowledged that waiting lists for affordable housing had increased dramatically since the pandemic, but this was a complex situation and difficult to resolve in this type of report which was looking over a period of 20 years.   They had taken the waiting list at face value in accordance with the guidance.  He did not think that it would be beneficial to delve into the minutiae of the current pandemic, and the longer-term view needed to be taken.

 

A Member suggested there should be a policy on having Category 2 standards on all new housing.  She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 740.

741.

Suggestions for future work programme

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Manager provided the following dates in July for Members:

 

·                16 July 2020 – Member Workshop:  Sustainable Construction and Design SPD;

·                28 July 2020 – Member Workshop: Viability Assessment; and

·                30 July 2020 – Local Plan Panel meeting.

 

A Member asked about the consultation process when housing developments came up which were not in the Local Plan, suggesting that there should be a policy so that the matter was dealt with how the Council wanted it to be.  The Head of Planning stated that there were major non-allocated sites that could come forward and where pre-application discussions took place, the Council advised the developer to undertake consultation with the Parish Council and local community in advance of submitting such applications in accordance with the Council’s statement of community involvement.

 

A Member acknowledged and praised the work of the planning team, and in particular the Planning Policy Manager and the Planner, and the Chairman shared the same sentiments.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)       That the verbal update be noted.