Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence were received for the following:-

Councillor J Hesketh, South Ribble Borough Council

Councillor J Buttle, Preston City Council

County Councillor M Johnstone, Lancashire County Council

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 26 March 2014 as a correct record (copy enclosed).

Resolved – That the minutes of the Central Lancashire Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Committee be signed as a correct record, subject to the inclusion of Councillor C Hughes MBE, South Ribble Borough Council in the list of attendees.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited attendees to introduce themselves to the Committee.

The Chair then introduced representatives of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) who were in attendance to present members of the Joint Advisory Committee with a Certificate to mark the centenary of the RTPI. It was an acknowledgement of the special contribution which had been made by Central Lancashire to the science and art of town planning as a result of it being designated a New Town in 1970.

A presentation and photo opportunity then took place.

The Chair thanked the representatives of the RTPI for their attendance and award.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

Officers gave verbal updates on the progression of a Central Lancashire Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessment (GTAA).

Peter McAnespie, Policy and Design Team Leader at Chorley Borough Council reported that in line with recommendations from the Inspectors, Chorley and South Ribble Borough Councils had appointed Consultants on several aspects of the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople needs. He said that the work on this item should be complete by December 2014. Chris Hayward, Assistant Director (City Planning Officer - Preston) reported that a planning application for a Gypsy and Traveller site had been considered at the City Council’s Planning Committee that week and it had been approved on a temporary basis, having been granted temporary consent previously. He said that an Inspector had previously concluded that the temporary site was not a suitable permanent site due to access problems.

Resolved – That the updates be noted.

Report enclosed.

Stephen Lamb, Planning Officer – Planning Policy (Chorley), presented a report providing details of the progress of a Central Lancashire Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The report set out the purposes and objectives of the SPD and mechanism

for its approval and the intended route to its adoption and use. It was intended to adopt the SPD by January 2015.

Mike Molyneux, Planning Policy Manager at Preston, referred to the final page of the appendix to the report which was not readable following printing and he confirmed that a copy of the page would be circulated to Members following publication of the minutes.

Resolved – That Members note the contents of the report and endorse the progression of a joint Central Lancashire SPD on Biodiversity and Nature Conservation.

Verbal updates will be given at the meeting.

District Councils updated the meeting on the progression of their individual Council’s Local Plan:

Preston

Mike Molyneux, Planning Policy Manager, reported that Preston were about to submit their Plan to the Inspectorate. He said that there had been a brief delay due to some issues which were raised by English Heritage and Natural England as both organisations had been subject to recent staffing changes. Furthermore, a telephone call had been received by the Inspector referring to a Judicial Review in Solihull regarding the housing requirement figures which were based on Regional Strategy figures and whether they were up to date and had been objectively assessed. It was confirmed that Preston had taken legal advice on that issue and the housing figures used by Preston, from the Core Strategy, could be justified.

South Ribble

Helen Hockenhull, Planning Manager, reported that their partial Plan had been adopted. They had undertaken further Gypsy and Traveller work which was out to consultation during April/May 2014 and then submitted to the Inspector. No final report from the Inspector had yet been received. She confirmed that South Ribble were also contacted regarding the Judicial Review in Solihull and officers were in the process of assessing the points raised and would report back to the Inspector in due course.

Chorley

Peter McAnespie, Policy and Design Team Leader, reported that work was continuing to be undertaken on the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessment and that the local Inspector had asked South Ribble to identify five pitches. He confirmed that consultation was taking place from 4 June to 16 July 2014 with a report and resubmission due by 4 September 2014.

Resolved – That the updates be noted.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

Marcus Hudson, Head of Planning (Lancashire County Council), gave a presentation on progress made to date on the first wave of the City Deal by the County Council and its City Deal partners since the Deal was first sealed in September 2013.

Marcus then gave details of the strategic challenges faced as part of the £430m scheme funded by both the public and private sector which identified both housing and employment sites. He set out a wealth of detail including delivery and disposal plans, year one development sites, progress made with infrastructure including the Preston Western Distributor and South Ribble Western Distributor, current consultations, land referencing and environmental surveys which were underway, early discussions with landowners and discussions held with the Housebuilder Forum, health providers and an Investor and Developer Forum, amongst others.

Finally, Marcus said that there were many positive actions being undertaken at an extremely fast pace delivering what was a very ambitious programme. Helen Hockenhull, Planning Manager (South Ribble Borough Council) requested that a link to the 10 year infrastructure delivery plan be circulated to officers to cascade to all staff within their respective Councils.

Councillor Hughes, South Ribble Borough Council, raised a query regarding the Ribble Bridge which was not included in phase one of the City Deal. He suggested that all Members of the Committee unite to devise a joint strategy in order that the Bridge would form part of future discussions.

Marcus Hudson confirmed that the Bridge was not being overlooked and that it would be considered as a later phase.

Resolved – The Committee thanked the officer for his attendance and  detailed presentation which was duly noted.

There was none.

The date of the next meeting of the Central Lancashire Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Committee is 16 September 2014. The venue will be confirmed at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee will be held on Tuesday, 16 September 2014 at a venue to be confirmed.