Agenda and minutes

These minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

A proposed replacement version of this protocol had been drafted by officers and shared with Members via a Zoom briefing on 5th September 2022. The subsequent version, updated in light of Members’ input both during and following the briefing, was presented to the Committee for consideration. Various proposed amendments from Members were debated, some of which were supported.

The protocol formed part of the Council’s constitution and, as such, required the approval of Full Council before the new version could take effect.

COUNCIL DECISION

(subject to ratification by Council)

          R E C O M M E N D E D– that the Planning Protocol attached to the report, amended by the ‘track changes’ attached at Appendix A to these minutes, be adopted.

Local planning authorities which had delivered less than 95% of their housing requirement over the previous three years, as prescribed by central government, were obliged to produce annual Housing Delivery Test Action Plans (HDTAPs) in line with Paragraph 76 of the National Planning Policy Framework. Tandridge had fallen into this category in previous years, although its HDTAPs had been published under powers delegated to officers. It was intended to change this approach in future, whereby HDTAPs would require Committee approval. (The same would apply to the authority’s ‘Annual Monitoring Report’, a draft of which for 2022 was scheduled for submission to the Committee’s next meeting).

The results of the Government’s latest ‘Housing Delivery Test’ (published on 14th January 2022) showed that Tandridge had delivered 38% of its required level of new housing and, consequently, had to publish a further HDTAP and add a 20% buffer onto the ‘Five-Year Housing Land Supply’. A proposed HDTAP for 2022 was therefore presented. This incorporated an ‘Interim Policy Statement for Housing Delivery’, intended to provide a consistent development management approach for considering relevant planning applications.

The covering report explained that the Council could not meet the Government’s house building targets without:

·           encroaching into highly constrained areas in planning policy terms; and

·           creating severe difficulties in terms of infrastructure capacity.

The proposed HDTAP sought to update the 2021 version and identify what additional measures the Council will take to improve housing delivery. The report concluded that the HDTAP and its Interim Policy Statement would be a material planning consideration in the determination of future planning applications for housing development.

Discussion focused on the text for ‘Appendix A’ to the Interim Policy Statement regarding “Examples of possible sites …”, i.e.:

          “The emerging Local Plan process identified a number of large sites (75+ units) that could potentially be brought forward where the examiner did not raise concerns. These sites have been rigorously assessed via the HELAA process and Green Belt assessments. They have also been through two Regulation 18 consultations, one Regulation 19 consultation as well as site specific Examination hearings.”

It was suggested by some Members that, by implication, a significant proportion of the units concerned would be in Warlingham and that the list of sites as described above should be forthcoming. In response, it was explained that the sites had already been identified during the Local Plan examination process and could be distinguished from others about which the Inspector had raised concerns. In any event, the Interim Chief Planning Officer stated that, while development proposals would be invited in respect of potential sites, any consequent planning applications would have to be assessed against relevant development control criteria (including the need to demonstrate very special circumstances for any developments in the Green Belt) and the current national policy context (e.g. regarding Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status). However, there would be no repeat of the Regulation 18 and 19 consultations referred to above.   

           R E S O L V E D – that:

A.    subject  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

A report was presented in light of a letter dated 28^th July 2022 from the former Secretary of State (for Levelling up, Housing and Communities) to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The letter advised that, until further notice, PINS should not determine that local plans are unsound and/or suggest that local plans should be withdrawn. This had introduced a significant degree of uncertainty regarding the plan making process. In particular, it raised the prospect of major policy changes regarding housing delivery targets and the scope for releasing land from the Green Belt. The situation was particularly relevant for Tandridge in view of:

·      its 94% Green Belt coverage and the associated challenges of meeting the Government’s housing targets; and 

·      the significant amount of extra work required by the Inspector to enable the soundness of the emerging Local Plan to be further considered, with no guarantee of this resulting in the Plan being declared sound.

The report concluded that the Council should not proceed with commissioning or undertaking further work on the emerging Local Plan, pending clarification of future government policy. It was recommended that letters explaining the Council’s position be sent to the Chief Planner at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Inspector examining the Local Plan. This would support the Council’s efforts to manage the risk of continuing to prepare the Local Plan at considerable cost, amidst the financial constraints it was already seeking to address. However, the report also recommended that a robust policy be established for determining future planning applications for housing through the preparation and adoption of a Site Allocations Development Plan Document that would carry significant weight in decision making.

Regarding the proposed letter to DLUHC, the Committee requested an additional paragraph in respect of the Government’s target of having adopted local plans in place by December 2023, i.e. that:

·      the deadline was likely to be missed due to the uncertainties created by the former Secretary of State’s letter of 28^th July and was not something for which Councils should be held responsible; and

·      an extension to the deadline should be considered.  

The Chair confirmed that the cost of preparing the Site Allocations Development Plan Document would be accommodated within the overall Local Plan budget envelope. Nevertheless, a specific budget and project plan for the work would be presented to the Committee’s next meeting.  

            R E S O L V E D – that:

A.    the letters at Appendices B (amended by the insertion of the penultimate paragraph in accordance with the Committee’s instructions) and C be sent from the Chief Executive to the Chief Planner at DLUHC and the Inspector examining the Local Plan;

B.    the Council does not proceed with commissioning or undertaking further work for the time-being on the emerging Local Plan; and

C.   the Interim Chief Planning Officer be authorised to commence work on a Site Allocations Development Plan Document.

A proposed new Development Management staffing structure was presented which comprised:

·     4 x full-time Senior Planning Officers (compared to 3 in the existing structure)

·     2 x full-time Planning Officers (compared to 4 in the existing structure)

The Interim Chief Planning Officer was pleased to confirm that, with permanent staff now in place, the service no longer relied on having to engage temporary staff on more expensive contracts which had contributed to salary overspends in previous months. The cost of the additional Senior Planning Officer would be offset by the reduction in Planning Officers from 3 to 2 and by deleting an apprentice post which the Council had been unable to fill.  

            R E S O L V E D – that, subject to the deletion of the apprentice post as referred to above, the revised Development Management structure for the Planning Department at Appendix 2 to the report be approved and implemented to deliver ongoing resilience and improvement to the service.

An analysis of expenditure against the Committee’s £1,204k revenue budget for 2022/23, as at the end of June 2022 (Month 3) was presented. A £124k overspend was forecast due to greater than expected expenditure on:

• commissioning counsel, resulting from the decision to serve injunctions rather than enforcement notices

• salaries, due to a continuing heavy dependence on temporary contract staff in the first quarter of the financial year

• external consultancy advice and a late invoice from SCC for historic building fees due in 2021/22.

These overspends had been partly offset by greater than expected planning application fee income.

The capital position was under review and would be updated as part of the Quarter 2 budget monitoring report.

            R E S O L V E D – that the Committee’s forecast revenue and capital budget positions as at Quarter 1 / M3 (June) 2022 be noted.