Agenda item - STRATEGIC PLANNING MATTERS

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – REGULATORY

The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the current positions regarding:

· Other Local Plans and Examinations;

· North Hertfordshire Local Plan;

· Neighbourhood Plans;

· St Ippolyts Neighbourhood Planning Area (included in this report under urgency procedures);

· Government announcements;

· Strategic Planning.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the report on Strategic Planning Matters be noted;

(2) That Cabinet note and endorse he submissions in Appendix A;

(3) That the revised Neighbourhood Area application for St Ippolyts be approved;

(4) That delegated powers for non-key decisions be granted to the Director of Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and Transport, to:

i. Approve future applications for whole parish neighbourhood planning areas where no consultation is required under the relevant regulations;

ii. Approve for consultation a proposed submission neighbourhood plan (Regulation 16) where all necessary documentation is received; and

iii. ‘Make’ neighbourhood plans following a successful referendum.

REASON FOR DECISION:

(1) To keep the Cabinet informed of recent developments on strategic planning matters and progress on the North Hertfordshire Local Plan.

(2) To improve the efficiency with which the Council can make non-key decisions on neighbourhood planning matters for which there are no alternative options following changes to the relevant regulations and ‘lessons learnt’ from the Pirton Neighbourhood Plan and other neighbourhood plans.

The Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and Transport presented a report of the Service Director – Regulatory informing Members of the current position regarding other Local Plans and Examinations, North Hertfordshire Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plans, St Ippolyts Neighbourhood Planning Area (included in this report under urgency procedures), Government announcements and Strategic Planning. The following appendices were submitted with the report:

Appendix A - Copy of comments made by North Hertfordshire District Council regarding Preston neighbourhood Plan Submission Version.

The Executive Member for Planning and Enterprise updated the Cabinet on the following matters:

Other Local Plans and Examinations

· Central Beds

submitted, but no timetable issued as yet.

· Uttlelsford

In consultation period.

· East Herts

Inspector’s report issued 3 July 2018;

Main modifications increase housing numbers from 16,390 to 18.458;

Concluded that the exceptional circumstances to release land from the Green Belt for development were met;

Due to be presented to Council on 11 September 2018.

· Welwyn Hatfield

Stage 4 hearing took place in June 2018;

They are likely to be affected by the outcome of additional Green Belt work requested by the Inspector..

· Stevenage

Currently still on hold.

· St Albans

Consultation taking place in September to which NHDC would provide a response;;

A Duty to Co-operate meeting had been held.

North Hertfordshire Local Plan

· Letter dated 23 July 2018 received which stated that the Inspector was reviewing documentation;

· Documents will be published and people will be asked to comment;

· Unlikely to be available until mid September at the earliest;

· Consultation will likely be in December 2018, but this was not a certainty as it was in the Inspector’s hands.

Neighbourhood Plans

· Wymondley Parish Council were looking for an Examiner and we were now in the process of appointing one.

St Ippolyts Neighbourhood Planning Area

· St Ippolyts asked for a variation to the designated area to cover the whole Parish;

· This was covered by the regulations;

· Recommendation 2.3 asks for the application to be approved;

· Recommendation 2.4 seeks delegation for the Service Director – Regulatory to approve applications in future;

· This application was being considered under urgency procedures as it was time-constrained and did not fit in with the Committee cycle.

Government announcements

· Revised National Planning Policy Framework

The revised National Planning Policy Framework was published on 23 July 2018 and took immediate effect;

There had not yet been an opportunity to fully review the new NPPF, but this would be done and key points would be circulated to Planning Control Committee Members;

The NHDC Local Plan was being judged on the NPPF inforce at the time of submission rather than the new version.

Strategic Planning.

· Luton Airport

The proposal was for a substantial increase in the number of passengers from 18.1 million to 36 million;

A non statutory consultation regarding the proposals had been launched;

There had been a meeting with Luton Airport Authority where disappointment was expressed that some car parking was planned to be in North Herts boundaries, which we were previously unaware of;

There was no detail yet regarding traffic flow but it was estimated that 9 percent of traffic for the airport travels through North Herts;

The estimated 9 percent of 20 million airport users would have a very large impact on traffic in North Herts;

The size of the proposed development was such that the National Infrastructure Committee would determine the application;

Luton anticipate submitting the application in 2019;

There were no plans to extend the existing runways or put in additional runways;

Additional capacity would be achieved by extending the current taxiway;

A response to the non-statutory consultation was being developed and would be reported to a future meeting of Cabinet:

The Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and Transport moved a further recommendation as follows:

That the Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and Transport be authorised to provide a co-ordinated response, in consultation with the Service Directors for Place and Regulatory and the Executive Member for Leisure and Green Issues and the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health, to the non-statutory Luton Airport consultation by 30 August 2018.

The Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and Transport answered a number of questions on the report.