To approve an interim position statement on housing delivery.

The cabinet member, infrastructure introduced a report on the interim position statement upon housing delivery. The council acknowledged that it could not currently demonstrate a five year housing land supply. The reasons for this were known.

The team leader strategic planning made the following comments:

He reminded cabinet members that policy SS3 of the adopted core strategy provided the framework for addressing a shortfall in housing delivery against the target figure. The policy indicated that priority would be given to increasing housing supply by:

·         a partial review of the local plan; or

·         the preparation of new development plan documents (DPDs); or

·         the preparation of an interim position statement utilising evidence from the strategic housing land availability assessment.

A partial review of the local plan was not recommended as it had only recently been adopted. This approach would require the identification of additional strategic allocations which were unlikely to be deliverable in the short term and would consequently not address the current undersupply.

Work was underway to bring forward documents such as the Hereford Area Plan which would help to address the shortfall.

The interim statement provided a positive message on housing delivery in the county, using technical evidence and working with neighbourhood planners.

In the ensuring discussion the following points were made:

·         the statement would be publically available and would be presented as relevant evidence at future planning appeals

·         consultation would take place on the Hereford Area Plan in due course

·         officers were aware of recent comments by Welsh Water regarding infrastructure requirements and that the council would be engaging with them at the highest level and seeking to influence the imminent investment round

·         in the opinion of officers the council would need to demonstrate a five year land supply for at least three years before the requirement for a 20% buffer could be removed

·         demand for housing was linked to economic growth

In response to a question from a group leader the team leader, strategic planning stated that the 20% buffer would not lead to provision of additional housing above the core strategy target but reflected the need to catch up on previous under-delivery. The housing trajectory was weighted towards the latter stages of the plan period to reflect infrastructure constraints in the earlier stages.

He went on to say that the interim position statement would provide relevant evidence for planning decisions and at appeal hearings but that the lack of a 5 year land supply would continue to be an important consideration.

In response to a question from a group leader the team leader, strategic planning stated that updating the monitoring report of housing sites required considerable resource so it was difficult to update it more frequently. The monitoring report would be subject to scrutiny at planning appeals and as such it was important that the document was compiled by professional officers. It was also noted that neighbourhood planners often contacted the planning office to make enquiries about the status of allocated housing sites in their area and so they could not be relied upon to provide information.

The cabinet member, infrastructure stated that there was an issue with non-delivery of sites and that there was no mechanism to force developers to progress sites with extant planning permission. He went on to say the national policy was failing to deliver the housing growth needed and that he would be writing to local MPs to lobby for changes to the national planning policy. It was hoped that neighbourhood and area plans due to be adopted would go some way to address the lack of development.

In response to a question from a cabinet support member the cabinet member infrastructure stated that adoption of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) had been placed on hold. It was intended that the experience of other councils that had already introduced CIL would be monitored. It was noted that some councils had set nil rates for CIL.

Resolved

That:

a)    the draft interim position statement upon housing delivery (at appendix 1) be approved; and

b)    the need for such a statement be reviewed on an annual basis or earlier if it was clear that the council was able to demonstrate the existence of a five year supply of available housing land.