Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was submitted by Councillor Haysey.

Councillor Williamson chaired the meeting in her absence.

The Deputy Leader welcomed Members, Officers and those watching on the Council’s YouTube page to the meeting.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2022.

Councillor Kaye proposed, and Councillor McAndrew seconded a motion that the Minutes of the meetings held on 25 October 2022 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Deputy Leader. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Deputy Leader.

To receive any Member(s) declaration(s) of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the Masterplanning Framework report for North of Hertford – Land West of Wadesmill Road, Bengeo (HERT4, Phase 2). She said that in the District Plan, Policy DES1 Masterplanning requires all ‘significant’ development proposals to prepare a Masterplan.  Masterplans should be collaboratively prepared and informed by community engagement.  For the North of Hertford – Land West of Wadesmill Road site, Policy HERT4 also requires a Masterplan to be prepared.

Councillor Goodeve said that Policy DES1 states that in order to ensure that sites are planned and delivered comprehensively, any application for development will be assessed against its contribution to the Masterplan as a whole.

Councillor Goodeve said that since the agenda report was published, an anomaly on the plans within the Appendix A Masterplanning Framework regarding the depiction of the northern boundary of the strategic site allocation had been identified and corrected.  An amended version had been uploaded to the website which superseded the previous document in the original agenda. She said that this required a slight amendment to the report recommendation to read “That the North of Hertford – Land West of Wadesmill Road, Bengeo (HERT4, Phase 2) Masterplanning Framework, October 2022, as detailed in Appendix A to this report, as amended, be agreed as a material consideration for Development Management purposes.

Councillor Ruffles said that it was very important that the design framework was set out as the debate about the future of the land continued. He said that a petition was presented to the last Council meeting about the future of the site and he said he had been very involved in public discussions. She said that the clarity of the design framework was very important and it would make the sure the future of HERT4 was properly controlled and in accordance with the ideals of the masterplanning process.

Councillor Buckmaster said he had read through the proposals and felt they were really good and hoped that they would be carried forward to any future planning application.

Councillor Kaye said he had been involved with the masterplanning process for Ware North and East and had seen changes made due to the collaboration between interest parties.

Councillor Goodeve proposed, and Councillor Boylan seconded a motion supporting the recommendation in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council that the North of Hertford – Land West of Wadesmill Road, Bengeo (HERT4, Phase 2) Masterplanning Framework, October 2022, as detailed in Appendix A to this report, as amended, be agreed as a material consideration for Development Management purposes.

(A) Consider That the comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as shown at Appendix B, be considered and endorse the recommended actions shown be endorsed.

(B) That the Data Protection Policy be adopted following any amendments.

(C) That the Information Governance and Data Protection Manager be authorised to make any minor amendments that may be required, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services presented the Data Protection Policy report. He said that the adoption of the policy would further enhance the Council’s compliance with UK GDPR legislation.

Councillor Cutting proposed, and Councillor McAndrew seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - That (A) The comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as shown at Appendix B, be considered and endorse the recommended actions shown be endorsed;

(B) The Data Protection Policy be adopted; and

(C) The Information Governance and Data Protection Manager be authorised to make any minor amendments that may be required, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

(A) That the Surveillance Technologies Policy be adopted following any amendments.

(B) That the Information Governance and Data Protection Manager be authorised to make any minor amendments that may be required, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services presented the Surveillance Technologies Policy. He said that the policy would govern the council’s use of overt surveillance technologies controlled by the council and utilised by employees with relevant roles. He said the policy would include an asset register to record the location of cameras and their scope of surveillance.

Councillor Cutting proposed, and Councillor Kaye seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – That (A) The Surveillance Technologies Policy be adopted; and

(B) The Information Governance and Data Protection Manager be authorised to make any minor amendments that may be required, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods presented the Affordable Housing Needs Assessment Update report. He said that the update was important in light of the Council’s new Housing Strategy and its drive to increase affordable housing delivery. He said that the District Plan 2018 required housing developers to provide an appropriate mix of housing types and tenures.

Councillor Boylan said that the report would assist Officers with their efforts to negotiate the most suitable affordable housing mix in the towns and rural areas. He was pleased that the first new affordable homes in a rural area for some time had recently been completed in Braughing. He said that having a robust evidence base meant that there was less room for developers to argue that the Council’s Housing Strategy was unreasonable.

Councillor Buckmaster said it was useful to be provided with the figures by area. He said that East Herts compared fairly well to other authorities in delivering affordable housing despite viability issues from developers.

Councillor Boylan proposed, and Councillor Buckmaster seconded a motion supporting the recommendation in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council that the Affordable Housing Needs Assessment Update 2022 be endorsed to form part of the evidence base to inform Development Management decisions and support the East Herts District Plan 2018 and any future reviews and revisions to it.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods presented the First Homes Technical Guidance Note report. He said that First Homes were a new affordable housing product where developers provided homes to buy at a discount. He said that the council’s Housing Strategy included a range of low cost home ownership options but Officer analysis had suggested that the First Homes product would be ill suited to the housing market in East Herts.

Councillor Boylan said that paragraph 3.4 in the report highlighted that shared ownership was more affordable to residents in East Herts than First Homes. He said that the proposed technical note recommended that First Homes were not used but as they were a nationally recognised scheme, the council could not prohibit their development.

Councillor Buckmaster said it was helpful to have the conditions in place should a developer approach the council to provide First Homes.

Councillor Boylan proposed, and Councillor Goodeve seconded a motion supporting the recommendation in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council that the First Homes Technical Advice Note be approved.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

There was no urgent business.