To consider the report of the Forward Planning Manager.

The Team Leader Local Planning presented the report of the Forward Planning Manager about a proposed Draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which set out the Council’s policy and use of planning obligations for consultation purposes. He said that the document was included within the Council’s Local Development Scheme (January 2007) and was being produced in line with the regulations of the new planning system introduced under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.  He explained the purpose of the SPD and its role in supporting the policies and proposals in the Council’s Development Plan Documents.  He said that Policies S1 and DR5 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan referred to Planning Obligations and that the purpose of the SPD would be to clarify to all interested parties the Council’s policy stance on the subject.  If adopted, it would become a material consideration in the determination of planning applications where contributions were sought.  The Council had undertaken an initial consultation and information gathering process in July, 2006 and had sought the views of selected Parish Councils and a number of interested organisations and stakeholders as to the form that the SPD should take.  A Members Seminar had been held in November, 2006 and a number of issues arising from it had been incorporated into the SPD, the main aim of which was to:

·         provide as much certainty as possible to landowners, prospective developers and other interested parties;

·         ensure a uniform application of policy;

·         ensure the process was fair and transparent;

·         enable developers to have a ‘one stop shop’ approach to establishing likely contributions expected; and

·         facilitate a speedier response from the authority to development proposals.

The Director of Environment said that the preparation of the SPD was the culmination of a number of years work and operational experience, and he thanked the Officers for their hard work in preparing such a comprehensive and informative document.

The Committee considered the details of the draft proposals and Councillor DJ Fleet commented that it was vital for realistic thresholds to be secured in respect of affordable housing and felt that this should be 50% rather than the 35% proposed in the report.  The Team Leader Local Planning said that it was important to keep such thresholds at a realistic level but that the situation needed to be kept under constant review as the Development Plans progressed.  In answer to a question by Councillor RM Wilson, the Head of Planning Services said that a S106 monitoring officer would be the first point of contact for an applicant when making payments or serving notices as required by an agreement.  The monitoring officer would then ensure that payments were allocated to the appropriate funds or supplied to the service provider as appropriate and would issue receipts and acknowledgements of compliance where necessary.  The monitoring officer would track compliance with each obligation in the agreement as the development proceeds and all agreements/undertakings would be monitored through the use of a Planning Obligations database. 

Councillor H Bramer asked what would happen if a developer was unwilling or refused to enter into an agreement and the Head of Planning Services said that it was important for the Council to negotiate agreements with a developer which would benefit the community, rather than giving the impression that such consents could be bought.  Also if a proposal came forward that was acceptable on its own merits then an obligation should not be sought unnecessarily.  Furthermore the proposals for obligations would be from a national planning standard.  Councillor RI Matthews said that it was essential for affordable housing to be secured wherever possible in the rural areas but urged the officers to encourage house types that were in keeping with the existing villages architecture.

The Committee discussed further details of the draft document and commended it to the Cabinet Member (Environment).  

RESOLVED THAT

the draft Supplementary Planning Document be endorsed and commended to the Cabinet Member (Environment) for submission to Cabinet for approval.