Agenda and minutes

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

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Items
No. Item

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 25 April 2018 and the Special meeting held on 15 May 2018, as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meetings of the Advisory Committee held on 25 April and 15 May 2018 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

4.

Declarations of Interest

Any interest not already registered.

Minutes:

No additional declarations of interest were made, however Cllr. Mrs Morris indicated that should specific sites be debated she may need to leave the Chamber.  

 

5.

Actions from Previous Meetings pdf icon PDF 36 KB

Minutes:

The actions were noted.

 

Cllr. Mrs Morris commended the Planning Policy Officer for generously spending his time with her.

 

6.

Update from Portfolio Holder

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Planning reported that the bulk of the work undertaken was contained within the agenda.  Within the draft local plan before members a lot of concern had been expressed with regard to ‘exceptional sites’ and he urged all members to visit the areas in question.  He advised that landowners and developers could still submit further sites up until the cut off at the end of the year. 

 

He congratulated Cllr. Edwards-Winser for chairing the first Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Spending Board, and understood another was due around November.   

 

In response to a question about the Council’s Enforcement Team, he advised that some changes had been made to the structure and working arrangements which he believed would make the team more effective, and agreed to communicate this with all Members.

 

Action 1: The Planning Portfolio Holder to write to all Members about the changes made to the Enforcement Team. 

 

7.

Referrals from Cabinet or the Audit Committee

Minutes:

There were none.

8.

Second Tranche of Local List pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Conservation Officer presented the report which actioned policy EN4 of the Allocations and Development Management Plan (ADMP) by creating a Sevenoaks District Local List Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).  The report followed governmental planning policy set out in The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) by recommending limited Article 4 Directions for “the wellbeing of the area” (NPPF, para. 200). An Article 4 Direction brought specified works under planning control, thereby supporting para 135 of the NPPF, “The effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application.”

In supporting the adoption of the second tranche it would see the completion of the Local List project with all the wards of Sevenoaks having been considered. It had been a great example of the working partnership between a local amenity group and the District Council. The Local List would meet SDC ADMP para. 2.24 and the application of the specific Article 4 Directions would have a positive impact on the management of Sevenoaks’ heritage assets.

Within the debate it was suggested that discussion with local ward councillors about any further additions prior to the Portfolio Holder exercising any delegated authority, would be beneficial.  The Chairman moved the recommendations as per the report subject to the addition of the words ‘after consultation with the local wards members’ at the end of (d).

 

Public Sector Equality Duty

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

 

Resolved: That it be recommended to Cabinet that

 

a)  the adoption of the second tranche of the Local List, be supported;

b)  the consideration of the focused use of Article 4 Directions to remove limited permitted development rights, be supported which would result in planning permission being required for

i)   Demolition of Locally Listed Buildings outside a conservation area

ii)  Alteration (including removal) of locally listed boundaries and railings, inside and outside a conservation area;

c)  the communication of the proposed Article 4 Direction if necessary, be supported; and

d)  the request to grant delegated authority to the Portfolio Holder to consider and approve further additions to the Local List after consultation with the local ward members, be supported.

 

9.

Draft Local Plan pdf icon PDF 198 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced the report advising that it was the ‘draft’ of the draft Local Plan and sites listed as ‘potentially’ suitable for development did not mean that they would be included within the final draft Local Plan submitted to the Inspector.  She urged that once this draft was agreed for consultation, residents and stakeholders should respond with valid reasons as to why or why not a site or policy should or should not be considered.  The Council had to demonstrate to the Inspector at the end of this process, that everything had been considered in full, with sound and evidence based reasons.  Results of the consultation would be considered at the Planning Advisory meeting on 22 November and Cabinet on 6 December 2018, where debate would more likely be site specific.  Within the report there were 19 policies suggested which once adopted would be used during the consideration of planning applications at the development control committee, so feedback was important.

The Planning Policy Team Leader and Senior Planning Officer presented the report which provided a summary of the draft Local Plan, which would be issued for public consultation in the summer. It covered the main elements of the housing, employment, retail and gypsy and traveller strategies, together with an update on the potential housing figure and further information on the potential ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ sites. It was noted that ‘exceptional circumstances’ had not yet been tested.

It also provided an update on the recent member briefings, where Officers had outlined the sites that would be included in the consultation and the proposed public and stakeholder consultation strategy which would run for 8 weeks from Monday 16 July 2018 (which tied in with the publication of ‘InShape’) to Monday 10 September 2018 (extended by two weeks to take into account the school summer holidays).   Consultation events would also be held.

Members took the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification from Officers.  Members suggested improvements to help them and the public navigate the consultation, including: indexing; a ward by ward breakdown; and smaller downloads for those without reliable broadband.  Officers advised that there would be an interactive map, and Members were reminded that this was a committee report and not how the consultation would be finally presented.  All suggestions would be considered as it was hoped to make the consultation process accessible and as transparent as possible.

With regards to the Green Belt and ‘exceptional circumstances’ the Chief Planning Officer explained that part of the consultation process was to test the validity of the arguments being put forward by promotors that a site fell under that remit.  The Council needed consultees to respond on the planning merits and impacts of the sites as the plan had to be evidence based.  Sites currently being promoted as ‘exceptional circumstances’ needed to be tested to demonstrate whether the infrastructure being proposed met an existing social and community need. Within the consultation process all residents and stakeholders were encouraged to respond and let  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 26 KB

Minutes:

The work plan was noted.

 

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