Agenda item

The Head of Regulatory Services to submit a report conveying other evidence, not covered in other items on this agenda, that inform the production of the Local Plan.

The Chairman of the Melton Local Plan Working Group, Councillor Chandler presented the report prepared by the Head of Regulatory Services the purpose of which was to outline the findings and Local Plan implications of the remaining new evidence that had not yet been presented to Members.  It sought Member agreement for the evidence to be published alongside an Addendum of Focused Changes to the Draft Melton Local Plan, and that the proposed changes and/or suggested modifications recommended to address the implications of the new evidence.

Councillor Chandler clarified that

•           this item was something of a safety net addressing issues that had not been covered under other headings.  There were various documents that needed to be produced alongside the Plan and its evidence and these were addressed in this report  They were not policy changes or modifications to the Plan in their own right but needed to be published alongside the changes in order to allow comment in the same way;

•           many of these were produced as follow ups to the issues already discussed at this meeting and fulfilled various statutory requirements.  Amongst them was the revised Housing Land trajectory which was based on the revised set of sites for this stage.  Members were asked to note that it retained a healthy 5 year land supply position of in excess of 7 years, based on the new sites composition discussed earlier.

Councillor Chandler moved the recommendations numbered (i) to (x) in the report and the motion was seconded by Councillor Illingworth.

The Head of Regulatory Services drew Members’ attention to the erratum to recommendation (v) in the previously circulated report to include reference to Habitats Regulations Assessment.  The officer then responded to a request for clarification regarding the table in Appendix 2 to the report showing the number of dwellings with planning permission compared with the total allocations as at 30 May 2017.  He confirmed that the number of real applications was outstripping the Local Plan process and that the total was now 2020.

A vote was then taken on the recommendations, including the amendment to (v) which was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)  the findings of the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy 2016-2021 be noted and that it be published alongside any consultation on a Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(2)  the suggested amendments to the draft Local Plan set out in section 3.2 of this report be agreed and that these be included in an Addendum of Focused Changes (full details are provided in item 3I of this Agenda);

. 

(3)  the purpose and content of the Sequential Test of Potential Development Sites be noted and the finalised report be published alongside an Addendum of Focussed Changes;

(4)  the findings of the Sustainability Appraisal of the options for an overall housing requirement for Melton be noted and  the SA Addendum setting out these findings be published alongside any consultation on a Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(5)  the findings of the sustainability appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) of the proposed changes be noted and the SA and the HRA of the Proposed Changes setting out these findings be published alongside any consultation on a Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(6)  the requirement to undertake HRA screening be noted and  the appropriate documentation published alongside any consultation on a Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(7)  the  Equalities Impact Assessment of the Draft Local Plan  attached at Appendix 1 be accepted;

(8)  an addendum to the draft EIA that will set out an assessment of the proposed changes to the local plan be published alongside any consultation on a Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(9)  the updated Five Year Land Supply and Housing Trajectory Position document at Appendix 2 be agreed and published for consultation alongside any Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes;

(10) the other updated documents described at para. 3.9.1 be published alongside any Melton Local Plan Addendum of Focused Changes.

[The Mayor here adjourned the meeting at 7.45pm for a break.  The meeting resumed at 8.13pm]