To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 October, as a correct record.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 October 2015 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record subject to paragraph one of minute 14 being amended to read “7% as non greenbelt finding…” and paragraph five of minute 14 being amended to read “…attending a meeting concerning Gatwick with Kent County Council…”.

Any interest not already registered.

No additional declarations of interest were made.

The actions were noted.  The statistics on appeals showing the sizes of the applications on the appeals lost had been sent to Members via email on 21 January 2016.  Hard copies of the statistics were available for Members.

Members thanked Officers for the statistics but thought it would have been beneficial to see a comparison between the dwelling types.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning advised Members that:

·                The net number of units built for 2014/15 was 199 which exceeded the Council’s current target of 165 houses per year.  This, was due, in part to a higher number of larger developments.  With the revision of the Local Plan the target number of 165 houses will change;

·                With reference to the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), also being considered later on the agenda, the SHLAA progress was going well with Officers reviewing sites (which currently stood at approximately 250 sites).  Once the assessment had been completed, all sites would be reported to the committee for consideration.  This had been schedule for June’s meeting;

·                The suggestion of charging pre-application planning advice had been considered by Cabinet but it has been rejected;

·                Receipts from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) had been slow with approximately £120K of CIL funding generated so far;

·                Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) was winning approximately 74% of planning appeals lodged;

·                Upgrading the A21 dual carriageway to Hastings was being considered but was subject to funding;

·                There would be no decision on additional airport capacity at Gatwick Airport until the summer; and

·                He had attended a meeting on London’s housing demand as there was a duty to inform local authorities of any proposals.

Members sought feedback on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals that had been announced recently.  The Portfolio Holder informed Members that an update would be made available at the next meeting.

Members requested details/numbers of applicants on SDC’s self build register which exempted the applicants from paying CIL.

Action 1: Chief Planning Officer to provide Members with details/numbers of applicants on SDC’s self build register.

There were none.

The Senior Planning Officer (Policy) presented a report on progress on the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and the Economic Land Availability Assessment (ELAA).

Currently, a quarter of the sites submitted so far had been visited.  It was envisaged that the remainder of sites would have been visited by the end of March 2016.  Officers would then engage with local members from mid-April onwards to discuss the sites in their individual wards.

An update would be brought before April’s meeting with the SHLAA and ELAA being completed and reported to the committee in June for consideration.

Officers confirmed that all sites (both those recommended for approval and rejection) will be included in the completed SHLAA and ELAA so that this committee could consider each site on an equal basis ensuring a fair, honest and transparent evaluation.

Members were concerned about constituents lobbying individual members enquiring about specific sites which may have been logged/assessed within their wards.

Officers stressed the importance of Members refraining from releasing any information about sites until the SHLAA and ELAA had been made public.  The SHLAA and ELAA needed to remain a clear and transparent process, any information released early would undermine/prejudice the work being undertaken.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved: That the progress on the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and the Economic Land Availability Assessment (ELAA) be noted.

The Strategic Planning Manager presented a report on progress with the work programme for preparing a Local Plan.

Members enquired whether tourism was considered when preparing a Local Plan.  Officers confirmed that tourism was included in the Economic Study.

Members were advised that although some of the studies/plans being undertaken were not within the committees remit, these studies/plans would be presented to this committee as it had responsibility for the Local Plan and in such circumstances Members from other Advisory Committees would be invited and encouraged to provide feedback.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved: That the progress with the work programme for preparing a Local Plan be noted.

The work plan was updated as follows:

·                19 April 2016            Housing Strategy

Local Plan Update

Overview of Building Control

Landcharges update

Viability

Enforcement update (to include S215 notices)

SHLAA Progress Report

·                Summer 2016           Local Plan Update

SHLAA and ELAA

·                Autumn 2016            Local Plan Update