Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – REGULATORY

At the February meeting of Overview and Scrutiny it was agreed to trial focusing meetings based on areas of Executive Member responsibility. This report provides the Committee with an update on the Planning and Transport Portfolio, supported by the latest updates on the relevant projects, risks and performance indicators within this area.

RESOLVED: That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee note the report and its appendices.

REASON FOR DECISION: This report was following the request of the Committee for an update on the Planning and Transport portfolio.

Audio recording – 1 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds

The Service Director – Regulatory presented the report entitled ‘Planning & Transport Portfolio Update’ and advised that Building Control was the only area under Planning & Transport that was not covered within the report. He invited Members to ask any questions that they may have.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Ralph Muncer

·                Councillor Donna Wright

·                Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·                Councillor Jon Clayden

·                Councillor Martin Prescott

·                Councillor Matt Barnes

·                Councillor Louise Peace

·                Councillor Tom Tyson

In response to questions, Councillor Val Bryant advised that:

·                The Interim Executive Member for Planning & Transport had given their apologies for this meeting.

·                The appointment of a permanent Executive Member for Planning & Transport could be expected to take place around the time of the Annual Council meeting.

·                Discussion around using the Community Safety Budget to upgrade lampposts to smart lampposts had taken place. These would house CCTV cameras and EV charging points and they would try to account for as many lampposts as possible before undertaking this to spread the costs of the project. 

In response to questions, the Strategic Planning & Projects Manager advised that:

·                Consultants had been commissioned to investigate access options to Hitchin Station not just from the eastern side, but under the bridge to the station as well. The options had been presented to Network Rail and they were waiting for them to respond. Once a response had been received, they would be able to provide an update and narrow down the options to take forward.

·                The Senior Transport Policy Officer worked with both the Master Planning Team at North Herts Council and the County Council. When planning applications were received, they would advise the Planning Development Team on recommendations that could be made to facilitate the Local Transport Plan. 

·                The County Council were prioritising some of the more important routes in the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIP) and s106 contributions would be directed to these going forward.

In response to questions, the Service Director – Regulatory advised that:

·                A Project Prioritisation Programme was in place and timelines for projects were led by statutory and grant deadlines. Everything else that was not dictated by one of these deadlines was done in discussion with the portfolio holder.

·                Highways were responsible for pavements across the district, and they had been awarded £6.7 million of Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Funding (LEVI) for on-street charging purposes. The Council would be presenting their case for their share of the funding along with the other ten District and Borough Councils across the County.

·                Most lampposts were located at the back of pavements, therefore solutions such as retractable bollards may need to be implemented to facilitate on-street EV charging where this was the case.

·                It would not be financially viable for most EV charging companies to install charging points in rural areas, therefore the Council would allow the installation of EV charging points in their car parks to increase the availability of EV charging points to rural residents when visiting towns in North Herts.

·                Within the Local Plan, there was a stepping stone approach to Town Centre Strategies. Draft work on these had been taken to the Strategic Planning Project Board, with the view from the Board to take them forward as a single document. Officers were proceeding with that as quickly as possible and stakeholder workshops around the strategies with the BIDs and local businesses had taken place.

·                The Draft Town Centre Strategy was targeted to be presented at Cabinet in June as part of the Forward Plan. 

·                The Strategic Planning Project Board were presented with a detailed assessment of the retail need within the new strategy. However, not as much floor space was needed on retail as initially thought due to the post-COVID rise in online shopping and the evidence base to support this had been presented to local businesses and the BIDs.

·                The previous estimates provided by Network Rail on station access through a tunnel for a grant application were estimated in excess of £20M. Because of this, it would be key to work with Network Rail on an eastern access point as s106 money would never be able to cover this project.

·                Luton Airport expansion was a project of national significance dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate. A decision had not been made yet regarding this project, however, there would be ongoing works for the Council if the project was approved to assist the airport with monitoring its green infrastructure growth plans.

·                When local government reorganisation came into effect and the creation of a unitary authority took place, the aim would be to keep the Local Plan for North Herts and align it with the local plans of other District and Borough Councils that would be absorbed by the unitary authority.

·                Planning Performance Agreements were entered into whereby the applicant paid 100% of the additional fees or costs that were incurred by the Council for processing large scale or complex applications.

·                Two agency staff had been employed under planning performance agreements, and in the current financial year, £135K had been given by developers towards this and other consultants. An additional £175K had been spent on agency staff and consultants where there were vacancies within planning and transport departments, however, this spending had been within existing budgets.

·                Two officers within the Strategic Planning Department were on 5-year contracts and would be expiring soon but their contracts would be made permanent as part of the budget proposals.

·                A budget growth bid had also been submitted to recruit an additional Transport Officer to assist the Senior Transport Policy Officer.

·                Until the terms of reference for the S106 Task and Finish Group were agreed and government planning policies were published, officers could not predict how the findings of the S106 Task and Finish Group would link with the Local Plan Review.

In response to questions, Councillor Ian Albert advised that:

·                Investigation on access options for Hitchin station had been initiated by the Council with the former MP for Hitchin, Bim Afolami, and the work had been continued by the current MP, Alistair Strathern who had met with Network Rail and other stakeholders last week to look at the access options for the site. The wider options for the site would also be looked into with the view to relocate the aggregates company currently occupying the site so that it could be developed, and HGVs could be rerouted away from the town centre. 

·                The County Council did not have the funding for a station access project, and they were yet to persuade Network Rail of the importance of the land they occupied. In addition, they would have to negotiate with Govia Thameslink to staff the new station access point.

·                Better pedestrian and cyclist access on Walsworth Road would also be explored as part of this project. 

·                The County Council were reluctant to put funding towards pavement solutions to address the problems that would arise from EV charging through smart lampposts.

·                Network Rail had carried out costings for a station access project in conjunction with the Levelling Up Fund, but these estimates had been more than £10M which was excessively more than s106 contributions would be able to cover. Therefore, the Council would continue to work with Network Rail to look at some of the alternative options that had been presented to them. 

Councillor Dennis highlighted that the railway bridge on Cambridge Road was a significant pinch point for all forms of traffic and that any work on the project would be welcomed.

In response to questions, the Strategic Planning Manager advised that:

·                The requirements in the latest National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) stated that the Council had to deliver almost 1000 homes annually and the long-term annual average was currently just 350.

·                The current Local Plan would start taking steps towards this and larger applications for strategic sites were being progressed, however, it would be difficult for the Council to consistently hit the annual target until multiple large sites were under construction at the same time.

·                Thousands of homes would be delivered as part of the future Baldock expansion scheme but only 800-1,000 of these would be in construction over each five-year period.

·                They were on target with the Local Plan, however the future progress of this was contingent on government regulations as announcements on further consultation of the NPPF were pending, as well as new national development policies that the Council would not be allowed to replicate in their Local Plan.

Councillor Ralph Muncer put on record his thanks to the Service Director – Regulatory for his contributions to the Council over the last 35 years and wished him well in retirement.

Councillor Matt Barnes also thanked the Service Director – Regulatory for his service to the Council.

Councillor Matt Barnes proposed and Councillor Tom Tyson seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee note the report and its appendices.

REASON FOR DECISION: This report was following the request of the Committee for an update on the Planning and Transport portfolio.