Issue - meetings

To receive the minutes and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meeting of the Executive Committee:

2^nd September 2013

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4;
• Changes to Scheme of Fees and Charges for Non-Statutory Planning Advice;
• Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership – Delegation of Functions to a Joint Committee; and
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 2^nd July 2013.

(Reports attached – decisions to follow with publication of the minutes on Thursday, 5^th September 2013. Appendices 1 – 4 to the Local Plan No.4 Item are available via the Council’s website, at Reception at the Town Hall and for Councillor in the Group Rooms.)

(Minutes of the meeting on 2^nd September 2013 to follow)

Members considered the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of 2^nd September 2013.

2^nd September 2013

Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4

At the request of the Mayor, Planning Officers provided a brief summary of the contents of the appendices which made up the Plan and its associated documents.

The Leader noted that the Council was at one stage in a very long process which had started some years beforehand and reiterated the requirement upon the Council to produce such a Plan. Given the assessed need for additional dwelling spaces, the Council had approached Bromsgrove District Council under the Duty to Co-operate and the preferred housing development sites had been selected following the assessment of a number of potential sites.

The Portfolio Holder highlighted that, without a Plan, there would be a free for all, Central Government could impose a Plan and the Council could be forced to spend a great deal of money defending against developers. It was stated that the Plan was based on robust evidence, sound professional advice from Officers and a thorough and proper consultation process. The meeting was reminded that, should the recommendations be approved by the Council, there would follow a period during which the soundness of the Plan might be challenged and Officers would be on hand to assist people to frame such challenges in a way which would be recognised by the Planning Inspector.

A number of other Members of the Council spoke on the proposals before it, with the main points raised being summarised below.

·           Not all of the sites identified within the Local Plan for housing development had previously been brought before Members for consideration, including the two sites alongside the A435 in Matchborough and Winyates;

·           The transport infrastructure in areas identified for housing development was not suitable;

·           The views of the local community should form a major consideration in the making of such decisions;

·           Redditch new town had been developed in a planned way with employment land and housing land built in close proximity, which reduced the need for lengthy commuting to work. The present plans separated housing and employment land and went against this principle;

·           The numbers of new dwellings which had been identified as being required for the Borough in the period since the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy were contested as being too high;

·           The types and density of the housing which was being proposed under the Local Plan were not considered suitable;

·           A number of green spaces and areas of the Green Belt would be lost as a result of the proposals within the Local Plan;

·           Areas surrounding those identified for the major areas of housing development would be rendered vulnerable to flooding as a result of this additional development;

·           Redditch would be celebrating 50 years of the New Town next year and dire pronouncements had been made at that time about the future of the town which had proved to be unfounded;

·           Members were being asked to approve matters which had not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46