Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved – That Councillor Swindells of Preston City Council be appointed as Chair of this meeting.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence reported.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Central Lancashire LDF Joint Advisory Committee held on 11 September 2012.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Central Lancashire Local Development Framework Joint Advisory Committee held on 11 September 2012 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report enclosed.

The Central Lancashire LDF Co-ordinator, submitted a report providing an update as to the stage reached in the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) implementation process, together with the outcomes of the consultation in respect of the Draft Charging Schedules which took place between 19 October and 16 November 2012.

Since preparing the report issues raised following consultation were still being summarised, however it was reported that 34 responses had been received, five of which were in support, one seeking clarification regarding charities, one containing no observations and 27 which raised either objections or issues. These representations will be assessed and if considered appropriate in the current form, the Draft Charging Schedules will be submitted to the Inspectorate in order for an Examination to take place. If any further changes are deemed necessary then a further consultation exercise would be required to be carried out for an additional four weeks.

The Inspectorate would undertake to hold an Examination within 10 weeks of the formal submission of the Charging Schedules being submitted to them and at the close of the Examination the Inspector would advise when his/her report would be issued. If the Inspector’s report deemed that the legal processes had been complied with and supported the Schedules, they would then be brought back to full Committees of the respective Councils for formal adoption.

Resolved – That the report and verbal update be noted.

Note attached.

The Central Lancashire LDF Co-Ordinator submitted a note, as requested at the last meeting of the Committee, on how the Core Strategy inter-related to invasive species such as Knotweed.

Questions were raised on other invasive weed species.  It was suggested that the problem was one which should be addressed by landowners and that such matters were outside of the planning regime.  These matters were regulated by environmental policies and legislation. 

Resolved – That the update be noted.

Report enclosed.

The Joint LDF Officer Team submitted a report informing Members of the progress in preparing the Open Space and Playing Pitch Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

Five Supplementary Planning Documents had recently been adopted by the three authorities for the following key topic areas: affordable housing, design, the re-use of employment premises, rural development and access to healthy food.  The Open Space and Playing Pitch SPD was being prepared separately following the completion of the Open Space Study and Playing Pitch Strategy.

A separate charging schedule was also being prepared which would identify the amount of financial contribution that would be required from a residential development for each typology for off-site provision or improvements. The charges varied for each of the three authorities as the Open Space Study sets different provision standards for each authority, as detailed in the draft schedule set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

It was confirmed that the financial contributions were in addition to the CIL charges and would be secured through Section 106 agreements.

One Member raised concern that certain areas of open space in his Ward had not been identified within the document.  The Assistant Director (City Planning Officer - PCC) confirmed that each Council’s Site Allocation Plan document was the document whereby such areas of open space should be identified and he reported that each Council would review their own areas.  The Assistant Director agreed to discuss this further, after the meeting, with the Member concerned.

A question was raised regarding the different figures set out in the table at paragraph 20 of the report.  Officers reported that the figures were unique to each Council and that they would be applied via the Section 106 process.

Furthermore, one member raised a question pertaining to paragraph 32 of the report in relation to the location of parks.  Officers reported that they would seek monies to contribute to parks facilities through Section 106 agreements and CIL and it was suggested that the SPD be updated to clarify this.

Resolved –  (i) That the draft Open Space and Playing Pitch SPD, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be noted; and

                     (ii)   that the final version of the Open Space and Playing Pitch SPD to be submitted to each Council’s Cabinet for consideration, prior to submission back to the Central Lancashire LDF Joint Advisory Committee for its approval and adoption, subject to the expansion of text in paragraph 32 of the document, so that it is explicit that funding can be secured through both 106 agreements and CIL monies where appropriate.

Marcus Hudson will give a verbal update on this item.

The Head of Planning (LCC) gave an update report on the Highways and Transport Masterplan. He confirmed that the Masterplan report was subject to LCC’s Cabinet Member approval at a meeting scheduled to take place on 11 December 2012. If approval was granted the Transport Masterplan would be subject to a consultation period completing in January 2013. A further report to LCC’s Cabinet Member would be submitted in March 2013 with a view to approving the Masterplan in summer 2013.

It was reported that the publication of the document in January 2013 would give Officers grounding prior to the first examination at South Ribble Borough Council. By the end of the Core Strategy examination, Officers endeavoured to ensure that they had provided a robust account of the Highways and Transport Authority.

The Head of Planning (LCC) said that meetings to brief Members at all three Councils were being arranged prior to the Christmas break and he confirmed that the decisions of the forthcoming LCC Cabinet meeting would be available on the website following the meeting. Furthermore, he said that electronic copies of paperwork would be sent out to all Members separately.

Resolved –     (i) That the update be noted; and

                        (ii) that briefing meetings be convened to update Members and Officers of the JAC following LCC’s Cabinet meeting on 11 December.

District Councils updated the meeting on the progression of their individual Council’s site allocations and development management policies.

Lesley-Ann Fenton reported on the position in relation to Chorley Borough Council.  She said that the closing date for their Plan publication was 30 November 2012 and that the Plans were due to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 21 December 2012.  Members at Chorley were keen to keep the momentum going; however Lesley-Ann said that the Planning Inspectorate had been inundated with Plans from Local Authorities so it was assumed it may be weeks before their Plans were considered.  In view of this it was thought that the adoption of the Plans for Chorley may be delayed until May 2013.  She also confirmed that whilst Chorley was on target with their Plans the delays were being caused by the Planning Inspectorate and as such Chorley Borough Council would be voicing their concerns especially as their saved policies were due to lapse in March 2013.

John Dalton updated the Committee in relation to South Ribble Borough Council.  He said that their documents were submitted at the end of October 2012.  At present the Planning Inspectorate had not committed to any dates for their Examination as they had requested an Officer post be filled prior to it taking place.  However, a pre-examination process had been arranged to take place on 23 January 2013 and an Examination should take place in the first two weeks of March 2013, four weeks behind the anticipated date.  John said he agreed with Lesley-Ann that the Planning Inspectorate be contacted with regard to the unforeseen delays, particularly as the Inspectorate had had their documentation since October 2012.  He also said that South Ribble were looking at April/May for adoption, dependent on what the Inspector wished to hear, and in reality it could be June/July 2013 before adoption.

Chris Hayward reported on the current position for Preston City Council.  He said that Preston was working on two Plans and he confirmed that the Site Allocation had gone out for consultation up to 19 December 2012.  Chris said that the Site Allocation was scheduled on time for January 2013 which was behind South Ribble and Chorley and he said that the Masterplan may have a bearing on Preston’s Plan.

Resolved – That the updates be noted.

The next meeting of the Central Lancashire LDF Joint Advisory Committee is 5.30pm on Tuesday 22 January 2013 at South Ribble Borough Council.

The next scheduled meeting of the Central Lancashire LDF Joint Advisory Committee will be held on Tuesday 22 January 2013 at South Ribble Borough Council offices.