Agenda item

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 been brought before them by Officers and which were to be the subject of forthcoming briefings, in part because matters were seemingly being rushed through;

·           The alternative sites for housing development in Bromsgrove District, principally Bordesley, had not been adequately considered by Officers when assessing which sites were most suitable for additional housing development;

·           The proposed development would tie the Borough closer to Bromsgrove town along the already over-used A38 whereas the Borough’s major employment contacts with Birmingham were left under-developed;

·           The existing infrastructure in and around Bordesley was superior to that to be found in the area around Webheath in areas such as public transport provision and proximity to motorway connections;

·           The choice of locations for additional housing growth seemed predicated on choices made by Bromsgrove District Council rather than Redditch Borough Council;

·           The level of housing development proposed was in excess of that which would be sufficient to meet the natural growth of Redditch and the additional housing would merely serve to provide cheap housing for people from outside of the Borough

 Following considerable discussion the matter was put to the vote and it was

RESOLVED that

1)            the Officer responses and actions (Appendix 1) to consultation held on Draft Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4 be endorsed;

2)            the Officer responses and actions (Appendix 2) to consultation held on Redditch Housing Growth be endorsed;

3)            the Proposed Submission Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4 (Appendix 3) and Sustainability Appraisal (Appendix 4) for representations to be made by statutory bodies and members of the public, commencing 30th September 2013 until 11^th November 2013 be approved;

4)            authority be delegated to the  Executive Director of Planning, Regeneration, Regulatory and Housing Services/Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Development Plans Manager following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration and the Leader of the Opposition to review the representations made following the close of the representations period, and that subject to no significant weaknesses being raised to doubt the soundness of the draft Plan (for tests of soundness see paragraph 3.20 of this report), that the Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4 be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination in December 2013;

5)            authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Planning, Regeneration, Regulatory and Housing Services/Head of  Planning and Regeneration and the Development Plans Manager following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration and the Leader of the Opposition to prepare and submit the necessary documents to support Submission of the Local Plan; and

6)            authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Planning, Regeneration, Regulatory and Housing Services/Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Development Plans Manager following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration and the Leader of the Opposition, to undertake such further revisions, technical corrections and editorial changes deemed necessary in preparing the Local Plan for submission to the Secretary of State and to agree subsequent changes where appropriate during the examination.

(At 8.15pm, following consideration of this item, there was a short adjournment. The meeting reconvened at 8.25pm.)

The remainder of the matters referred to Council by the Executive Committee on 2nd September were then considered by the Council and it was

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 2^nd September 2013 be received and all outstanding recommendations adopted.