Agenda item

Councillor Matt McCabe, Cabinet Member for Built Environment and Sustainable Development and Richard Daone, Deputy Head of Planning (Policy) introduced the report and gave a presentation which covered the following:

·  BANES Local Plan Options

·  Local Plan Purpose and Scope

·  Local Plan Spatial Priorities

·  Structure of Options Document

·  Housing and Employment need

·  Map – showing location of site options for consultation

·  Development Management Policy Options

·  Local Plan Preparation Programme

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Hounsell asked if the Cabinet Member was satisfied that a suitable amount of brownfield sites have been used and asked if Charmey Down Airfield site been considered. The officer stated that a lot of work has been done regarding brownfield sites – the vast majority of housing is on brownfield sites. The initial view is that we will need some greenfield options. Regarding Charmey Down, the officer explained that this was in the green belt and also in the Cotswalds Area landscape and so would be controversial. The owners are Wessex Water.

Councillor Hounsell asked if sufficient sites are being consulted on. The officer stated that a wide range of sites are being consulted on – this is just the list of the large site options. He explained that a proportion of our growth arises through students, so student accommodation reduces the need for general accommodation.

Councillor Hughes stated that some of his residents are struggling to engage with the consultation (the extended time is appreciated). He has concerns that the feedback will not be a true picture. The officer stated that it is difficult to get representative engagement – there have been a mixture of drop in events in relevant places and videos on the website etc. Efforts have been made to make the information accessible, over 2,000 comments have been received and there are still over 3 weeks left.

Councillor Beaumont added that many of his elderly residents have struggled to access online consultation and asked if forms can be provided in the future. The officer stated that the Council is moving towards online based consultations. He accepted the comment about forms but added that the system of collecting and analysing feedback has to be efficient. Councillor Wait stated that Councillor MacFie is producing paper forms for his ward.

Councillor Leach stated that ‘reducing emissions’ is clearly the priority in the report where it should be ‘climate resilience’ in his view. He stated that future climate consideration should be built into the planned developments. The Cabinet Member stated that Wessex Water have raised the issue of extra water falling in the future and where it will go. He explained that he is looking to reduce emissions in the supply chain but there is a delicate balance to tread – the plan will be reviewed in 5 years so updates can be made. Councillor Leach stated that he agreed we should be driving to net zero but we need to make sure developments will be habitable in the future – developers will not have accountability in many years’ time.

Councillor Hounsell asked if the community strategy aim that developments should promote health and well being is being considered. The officer agreed that this was a factor that is looked at.

Councillor Hounsell spoke about some problems with the online consultation – there were no diagrams, it only accepted a few sentences and ‘submit’ did not work. He acknowledged that there had now been an extension but asked if public confidence had been undermined and a dummy run could be considered. The officer explained that systems had been tested and that there had been some issues with the main website for a few days. He acknowledged the point. The Cabinet Member apologised for the issues.

Councillor Player asked about the option of the 500 new homes in Farrington Gurney – she stated that this would be a huge increase and there could be issues with integration. The officer explained that this had only been presented as a possible option and that a development must be on this scale to support a new primary school for example. He explained that all of the options have challenges.

Councillor Ross stated that parish councillors are finding it hard to access the online consultation and it does not show up on the home page. She further stated that as Chair of the ‘Food Security’ task group there are some key issues around allotments and food growing spaces. She stated that there was a lack of consistency in the Local Plan regarding this land use and asked if it was a mistake to include these food growing spaces in the options document. The officer stated that if these spaces have been assessed then they must have been submitted.

Councillor Hughes stated that the Farrington Gurney option is raising questions due to the lack of detail (information on nursery’s/shops etc) and there is no data on the effects or transport modelling. The Cabinet Member stated that it was a chicken and egg situation – picking up local views and knowledge is what the consultation is for.  The officer confirmed that we are at the options stage which is the early stage.

Councillor Hughes asked about the site options on the West of Bath, the Cabinet Member explained that the site came forward as the wish of the steering group but we would need to know the benefits of the area.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officer.