Agenda and minutes

Venue: View Online Only

Contact: Charles Hungwe 

Link: recording of the meeting

Media

Items
No. Item

233.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Roper, substituted by Councillor Wing.

234.

Declaration of Interests pdf icon PDF 87 KB

To receive any declarations of interest. Members are advised to consider the advice contained within the Declaration of Interest advice attached to this Agenda. If a Member declares an interest, they should complete the Declaration of Interest Form

Minutes:

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

235.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 90 KB

To approve the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 20 February 2020, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Campbell proposed, Councillor Coleman-Cooke seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the Panel meeting held on 20 February 2020.

236.

Thanet Local Plan - Inspectors’ Report (Reg 25) And Adoption (Reg 26) pdf icon PDF 165 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Bayford, Chairman of the Panel made the opening remarks under this item and commented as follows:

 

·  The report by the Independent Inspector concluded that the draft Local Plan was sound only if all the modifications proposed by the inspectors were accepted;

·  This is because these modifications are considered by the Inspector’s to be necessary to make the plan sound and legally compliant, capable of adoption;

·  The decision to be made by the Council was either to adopt the plan with the Inspector’s modifications or to not adopt the Plan;

·  It was not up to the Council to either partially accept modification or to make further changes to the Plan that go beyond the inspector’s report, as this would leave the Council with a Plan that was not sound;

·  The role of the Panel was to consider the draft Plan and the Inspector’s main modifications and make recommendations for Cabinet to consider prior to forwarding its final recommendations to Council;

·  The recommendation in the report should be changed to read as follows:

 

v  The Overview and Scrutiny Panel is recommended to consider the main modifications from the Inspector’s report and what representations if any to make to Cabinet, for Cabinet to consider before making its final recommendations to Council.

 

Adrian Verrall, Strategic Planning Manager led the discussion and said that the key modifications from the Inspector’s report were highlighted in the committee report and the related annex. Mr Verrall also made the following comments:

 

·  It was important to have an adopted Local Plan in place, as this ensured that the Council would have a strong Planning Policy Framework that gave greater control over the planning process;

·  The plan also provided certainty for local communities about the scale and location of local development;

·  The Plan also provided support to the work of the team that processed planning applications particularly when it came to dealing with planning applications for large housing sites and appeals;

·  The document could also be used for funding bids and ensure that infrastructure was provided in a timely manner;

·  Without a sound Local plan there was a risk of intervention by the Secretary of State. This would also place the council at risk in terms of appeal decisions and losing control of the development process.

 

Members made a number of comments for consideration by Cabinet as follows:

 

·  Could the Climate Emergency Working Group and the Local Plan Review Cabinet Advisory Group work collaboratively in order that any key issues that emerge from the work of the Working Group that included climate change would be forwarded to the Cabinet Advisory Group and captured in the final recommendations going to Cabinet, as these issues could added to the Local Plan as part of the Local Plan review;

·  Green infrastructure projects – could the publicly accessible woodlands projects that were not implemented in the previous plan that included Dane Velley Woods be included in the new plan?

·  Could the Ramsgate Port be cited in the new plan as it would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 236.

237.

No post decision items on this agenda

Minutes:

There were no post decision scrutiny items for consideration.

238.

Review the Overview and Scrutiny Panel Work Programme for 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the report.

239.

Forward Plan & Exempt Cabinet Report List pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the report.