Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Council is in the process of preparing a strategy to guide the development of Bath and North East Somerset over the next 20 years. Initially this work covered the City of Bath but has now been extended to cover the whole of the Bath &North East Somerset area and has been advanced by the production of a Business Plan and Spatial Framework.

1.2 Draft final reports covering the Business Plan and the Spatial Framework have been submitted and circulated amongst officers for comment. The purpose of this paper is to seek Executive approval to finalise these reports and use them to develop the vision, the Local Development Framework (LDF) and other key policy documents that will inform the LDF.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 Further development of a vision for the Bath & North East Somerset Area.

2.2 Wider engagement with all members and relevant service areas of the Council.

2.3 Key inputs into the development of the LDF for Bath and North East Somerset which will in due course replace the Local Plan, carrying forward and lending statutory force to the spatial elements of the Vision for the district, assisting in delivery of key regional and local transport policies and incorporating the growth agenda set out in the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

2.4 Further financial modelling and the development of a funding strategy for the vision which is consistent with funding opportunities.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The costs of further development work for the vision for B&NES are included within the Financial Plan for the Directorate of Development and Major Projects, within the current year provided it can be contained within the capital programme.

3.2 These costs include provision for a public engagement exercise.

3.3 It is difficult to predict what further sums will need to expended until the next phase of work has progressed.

3.4 It should, however, be noted that to progress the vision there will be an impact on existing service areas in order to progress detailed work and produce policies in line with the vision. This will need to be addressed through the normal service planning process.

4 COMMUNITY STRATEGY OUTCOMES

4.1 The vision will help to address many of the Council's Community Strategy outcomes

4.2 It will help to promote a sense of place and have a direct impact on many of the other areas of the community strategy.

4.3 The vision will consider aspects such as environmental sustainability, transport, housing, learning and skills, the local environment and local economy.

5 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

5.1 The vision will have a positive impact on a number of the corporate priorities. The main focus of the vision is to establish a sustainable economy and it will also help guide investment decisions both revenue and capital within a number of the Council's priorities.

5.2 The vision examines such issues as movement and access, the public realm and affordable housing and by fully analysing these issues it will act as a catalyst to help formulate solutions that will be carried forward in the LDF.

5.3 Consultation with the public during formulation of the Vision and LDF will help to promote customer satisfaction.

5.4 As the vision is developed, it will be possible to consider more detailed proposals as to how other corporate priorities can be targeted.

6 CPA KEY LINES OF ENQUIRY

6.1 The production of a vision will help to clarify what the Council is trying to achieve.

6.2 This clarification of the way forward will help to promote a better understanding of the ambitions of the Council and realistic expectations as to what is achievable.

6.3 The promotion of the vision will help the Council address many of the community issues in a more holistic manner.

7 THE REPORT

7.1 The reasons for promoting a strategic vision for Bath were outlined in the Council paper in 14 July 2005. Shortly after the completion of this work, it became apparent that in order to fully address many of the issues raised and to fully consider the impact of the Regional Spatial Strategy it would be necessary to expand this approach across the whole of the B&NES geographically area.

7.2 Previously, work has been carried out in Keynsham to produce a vision for the development of the area, and some preparatory work developed in the Norton Radstock area.

7.3 In January 2006 Ernst & Young were commissioned to extend their Business Plan approach to the whole of the B&NES area, and later David Lock Associates were commissioned to provide a Spatial Framework.

7.4 Draft final reports have now been received and circulated to Council staff for comment.

7.5 A series of consultations have taken place with a number of groups including the The Keynsham Advisory Group, The Brighter Futures Link Group, The Keynsham and Norton Radstock Town Councils. (The Brighter Futures Link Group is an emerging single partnership body from the Midsomer Norton/Radstock area.)

7.6 Presentations on the outcomes of the studies have been given to the Directors Group, the Informal Executive and the B&NES Development Group. The general feedback has been very positive.

7.7 The work has carefully considered the impact of the Regional Spatial Strategy and made recommendations as to how the Council could respond. This area of work, together with the spatial elements of emerging regional and local transport policies, is being discussed with the Planning and Transport Service having regard to incorporating the outputs from these studies and the vision into the LDF.

7.8 It is intended that a public engagement and consultation exercise will be taken forward that covers the whole of the B&NES area. The nature and scope of this exercise is being discussed with the Planning Service so that it has regard to statutory procedural requirements for consultation on the LDF and can meet the standards needed in producing the required development plan documents.

7.9 Development & Major Projects will continue to work closely with the Planning and Transport Service and other relevant service areas to ensure that the production of the Vision dovetails with the Council's LDF and other key policy documents as it develops. An immediate requirement is that work commences on the Core Strategy Development Plan Document. Discussion will also be undertaken so that the work on the vision and the Local Area Agreement is aligned.

7.10 Work will also be undertaken to fully develop the vision and develop a delivery plan. It is envisaged that this is likely to require a focussed policy group to work under the umbrella of the vision to ensure that this delivery plan is also capable of assisting in the production of the statutory planning regime required to ensure that the vision is delivered.

8 RISK MANAGEMENT

8.1 The report author and Lead Executive member have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

8.2 A risk assessment relating to the vision has been undertaken in compliance with the Councils decision making risk management guidance.

8.3 The key risk is that if a long term vision is not established then the economy of the area is likely to suffer. Without a long term vision the challenges facing the economy such as low wages, loss of traditional jobs and house affordability will not be addresses in a holistic manner.

9 RATIONALE

9.1 The creation of a focused vision for Bath and North East Somerset that informs the statutory Local Development Framework will ensure that the Council is planning for the future and engaging with the regional growth agenda set out in the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) in a goal-orientated, structured way.

9.2 Without an overarching spatial vision to sit alongside the RSS the Council may find that its LDF lacks local character and direction, and does not reflect fully local needs and aspirations.

9.3 In this respect, the vision for B&NES represents a "bottom-up" approach to spatial planning. Its role is to complement and run alongside the "top-down" Government and Regional approach. The LDF and, within that, the Core Strategy Development Plan Document represents the confluence where these two streams join together and are taken forward as a coherent whole.

10 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

10.1 Various options have been appraised during the production of the vision and it is considered that the present proposals offer the best option for the development of a vision for the Bath and North East Somerset Council area.

11 CONSULTATION

11.1 One of the purposes of the paper is to seek approval to go to a wider engagement exercise.

11.2 Consultation on the paper has taken place with a number of Service Areas who have agreed with the content.

12 ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

12.1 The production of the vision will need to take account of most of the issues listed covering areas such as Social Inclusion, Sustainability, Property, Human Resources and Equality.

13 ADVICE SOUGHT

13.1 The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Resources Director) have had the opportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication.