Agenda item

The Localism Act was enacted in November 2011 and enables community-led planning in the form of Neighbourhood Plans, Neighbourhood Development Orders and the Community Right to Build.  It also introduces new planning duties on Bath & North East Somerset to support this new tier of Neighbourhood Planning which comes into effect in April 2012.

Cabinet are due to consider the item on 14th March and it is proposed that a public consultation will be held on the draft document. The views of the PTE Policy Scrutiny Committee will be taken on board alongside the consultation comments before the document is finalised.

The Divisional Director for Planning & Transport introduced this report alongside one of the Council’s Planning Officers.

The Planning Officer stated that she had been working with many groups on this matter and was now hoping to bring something forward quite rapidly. She added that all political parties had indicated that they were involved in on-going work in relation to this subject matter.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney asked that as the document will supersede the current Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) for Planning, adopted in 2007 that reference is made to it during the consultation so that Councillors and members of the public can see the history involved.

The Divisional Director for Planning & Transport agreed that it would be helpful to reference such documents during the consultation.

The Chairman commented that she felt that the language of the document appeared to change quite quickly towards the end and that it became very text heavy. She also asked for the definition of a large scale development and what was meant by the term ‘‘light touch’ examination’.

The Planning Officer replied by saying that the current document was quite detailed and that it would be modified for the final version. A large scale development would be referred to when a site had 200 or more properties within it. The term ‘‘light touch’ examination’ has been used as it is the intention that they will not be as onerous as a full examination in public.

Councillor Neil Butters commented that there were six different parishes within Midford and wondered if a neighbourhood forum could be established in the area. He also asked if the department had enough resources to cope with the additional workload.

The Planning Officer replied by saying yes parishes could cluster together and that currently Freshford and Limply Stoke were acting as a pilot and had recently been awarded £20,000.

The Divisional Director for Planning & Transport added that initiatives need to be led by neighbourhoods and that the Council should be seen as facilitators. He said that the extent of the additional work was somewhat unknown at this stage, but he fully acknowledged the restrictions in place on the department.

Councillor Caroline Roberts asked if the members of a Neighbourhood Forum could be monitored to ensure that they are not acting in the interest of one particular industry. She also questioned the use of the word ‘break’ in 6.9 of the report.

The Planning Officer replied that indeed it was a typing error within 6.9 and it should be the word ‘brake’ instead. She added that there should be checks within the system for when appointing members of the Forum with regard to interests and bias. A local referendum at the end of the process is also required and a successful proposal must have 51% of the turnout to vote in their favour. The Localism Act criteria states that the Forum must act in the well-being of the area.

The Chairman asked how many people had to vote to make the referendum valid.

The Planning Officer replied that the full criteria would be released by the Government on April 1^st.

Councillor Tim Warren commented that he had been approached by a number of concerned members of the public as the Localism Act was quite complex to understand. He suggested that some public events be held to provide them with further information.

The Planning Officer replied that a new website would be launched to give the public information and that two events would be held on April 19^th and May 2^nd.

The Divisional Director for Planning & Transport added that a good dialogue exists between the Council and the Parishes on this matter and that before approaching the public it would need to digest the forthcoming information from the Government.

The Panel RESOLVED to approve the draft Neighbourhood Planning Protocol subject to the language and the flow of the document becoming slightly more resident friendly.