Agenda item

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth submitted a report that assessed whether the East Herts District Plan 2018 needed updating and where there were any necessary actions arising from that assessment.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the East Herts District Plan was adopted in October 2018. She said that it’s a legal requirement for a Local Plan to be reviewed within five years of adoption to consider whether it needed to be updated.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the planning department had undertaken the assessment of the current District Plan and the report had concluded that the District Plan did need updating. She said that Officers had reached this conclusion by assessing the consistency of the District Plan with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the PAS local plan route mapping toolkit and engagement with duty to cooperate bodies.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that there was significant uncertainty around the government’s proposed reforms of the planning system. She referred to consultation regarding the NPPF and the government was also consulting on the implementation of a new plan making system due to start in Autumn 2024.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that given this uncertainty, it was being recommended that a further report on the detailed scope of the update and the timetable be prepared once the implications of the new NPPF are better understood. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has received royal assent and the statutory framework required to implement the reforms has been approved.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that it was clear that under the new plan making system, a strong evidence based would still be expected. She said that the next 12 months would best be used by updating the council’s evidence base and carrying out other preparatory work needed to support an update to the District Plan, and this would include a Call for Sites. She said the report recommended that the District Planning Executive Panel be reconvened and that an engagement strategy was prepared to set out the council’s approach to engaging with the community and stakeholders.

Councillor Glover-Ward proposed that the recommendations in the report be supported. Councillor Hopewell seconded the proposal.

Councillor Redfern referred to affordable housing and councils falling short of building enough social housing. She said that she would like this matter is given significant weight and consideration. The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the review was merely to find out if the District Plan needed to be updated. She said that this matter could be taken forward when the updating process commenced if the recommendations were approved. She stated that the updating process was due to commence in Autumn 2024.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods said that she hoped that further consultation with the Environment Agency would continue in respect of sufficient water supply. The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability asked about the calculations of housing requirements using household projections from 2014 and whether this would be updated anytime in the future.

The Team Leader (Planning Policy) said that the standard method currently uses the 2014 projections. He said that in the near future this would continue to be the case, but there are discussions happening in central government and generally so there is a likelihood that this could change in the future. Members were advised that there was an adjustment for affordability, and this changed year on year.

The Executive Member for Communities asked about opportunities to look at conservation areas as part of the review and opportunities to install solar panels on housing as she had asked about this recently by residents. The Service Manager (Planning Policy, Design and Conservation) said that this could be looked at as part of the scope for the update of the District Plan.

Councillor Boylan said that the review should be broader than conservation areas as there were a huge number of listed buildings in East Herts and they had all been affected by how properties were being made sustainable and energy efficient. He commented on the rural nature of the district and how different the villages now looked and asked for some focus on the village chapter in the plan.

The Service Manager (Planning Policy, Design and Conservation) said that some initial work had already started in respect of the village hierarchy study and there would be engagement with parish councils as this work progressed.

Councillor Clements asked for and was given some clarity in respect of the make-up of the District Planning Executive Panel.

The motion to support the recommendation having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that the following be recommended to Council for approval:

(A)        Having assessed the East Herts District Plan 2018 in accordance with regulation 10A of The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017, it is agreed that, in order that the Council can continue to fulfil its statutory duties, the District Plan needs updating;

(B)        Work commences during 2023/24 on updating the technical studies needed to provide a robust evidence base to inform an update of the District Plan;

(C)        A ‘Call for Sites’ is undertaken during 2023/24;

(D)       The District Planning Executive Panel is re-convened with membership drawn from the Executive in accordance with paragraph 8.5.2 of the Constitution;

(E)         An engagement strategy is prepared which sets out the Council’s approach to consulting and engaging the community and stakeholders;

(F)         A further report on the detailed scope of the update and the timetable for its preparation is prepared at the earliest opportunity once the implications of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) are better understood, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill has received Royal Assent, and the statutory framework required to implement the reforms has been approved.