Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Email: Democratic.Services@sevenoaks.gov.uk 01732 227199 

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chairman

Minutes:

Resolved: That Cllr. Mrs. Hunter be appointed as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

 

 (Cllr. Mrs. Hunter in the Chair)

 

2.

Appointment of Vice Chairman

Minutes:

Resolved: That Cllr. Thornton be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

 

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 33 KB

To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 April 2016, as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 April 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

Any interest not already registered.

 

Minutes:

There were no additional declarations of interest.

 

5.

Actions from Previous Meetings

Minutes:

There were none.

6.

Update from Portfolio Holder

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder reported that following:

 

·                     the masterplan vision for Swanley and Hextable had been discussed with Cabinet, local ward members and the Town and Parish Councils, and a report would come to the next meeting. Consultants had suggested further housing development in order to achieve infrastructure improvement but that would all depend on the results of the local consultation;

 

·                     the AMR had been published and every members should have received it and he encouraged reading it;

 

·                     planning services were currently ahead of housing target;

 

·                     planning services continued to perform well

 

Action 1: Planning results against targets to be routinely published alongside the minutes; and

 

·                     no further clarification on the definition of travelling had come forward and the Gypsy & Traveller plan would now be absorbed into the local plan.

 

7.

Referrals from Cabinet or the Audit Committee

Minutes:

There were none.

CHANGE IN AGENDA ITEM ORDER

With the agreement of Committee, the Chairman brought forward consideration of agenda items 9 and 10 (Minutes 8 and 9 respectively).

 

8.

Local Plan Update - Local Development Scheme (LDS) pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Team Leader presented the report which updated Members on the work programme for the production of planning policy documents to reflect current timetabling and content.

 

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

 

9.

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 14 KB

Minutes:

The work plan was noted.

10.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and Economic Land Availability Assessment (ELAA) - Maximising Supply pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Planning Officers (Policy) presented a report which updated Members on progress with the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and the Economic Land Availability Assessment (ELAA). 

 

A call for sites had run from September to November 2015 and approximately 250 sites had been submitted across the District, with 30 more since the deadline which had yet to be assessed and there was no guarantee that sites submitted after the deadline would appear in the forthcoming iteration of the SHLAA and/or ELAA. 

 

Members noted a paper which was tabled indicating that since the publication of papers on 13 June, the following sites had been withdrawn: H095 – land fronting The Street and Horton Road, Horton Kirby; H098 – land west of Great Til Close, Otford; and H0111 – land at The Log Shed, Camp Hill, Chiddingstone Causeway.

 

Officers were inviting comments on the accuracy of the information set out in the site appraisals in order to ensure they were robust. It was reiterated that comments on the suitability of the sites were not being invited at this stage.  These were purely factual summaries and was an open process with lots of opportunity to comment on the accuracy of site information using the email address provided (sites@sevenoaks.gov.uk ).  Members clarified the kind of things the Officers were looking for such as: infrastructure; localised flooding; unofficial parking; road capacity; sewerage; site names; and agreed to send in their comments.

 

In addition to the call for sites and as required by the Government’s Planning Practice Guidance (PPG), Officers had also explored other elements of supply in order to boost the supply of housing, and found: 18 existing housing and economic development allocation sites without detailed planning permission or with unimplemented planning permission; 31 sites that featured in the 2008/09 SHLAA that had not been resubmitted or gained planning permission since; 30 sites with planning applications that had been refused or withdrawn that could accommodate 5 or more units; and 430 properties currently on the Empty Properties Register, all to be re-appraised and included in the SHLAA or investigated further.

 

Given the very limited number of sites submitted within existing settlement boundaries, and the significant number of sites submitted subject to Green Belt and other constraints, it was apparent that there was a considerable gap between the identified unconstrained objectively assessed housing need and the supply of available land in the District. In order to gain further evidence that would enable officers to make recommendations on the suitability of the sites there would be a Green Belt Assessment and a separate Landscape Character and Capacity Study which would run in parallel and be reported in early 2017.

 

Officers were thanked for their time on the SHLAA briefings for Members that had taken place.

Officers referred to information contained within the report and responded to questions from members of the Committee, other Members and the public who the Chairman gave discretion to address the meeting.  

 

Action 2: Chief Planning Officer to arrange a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

 

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