Agenda item

(A) To agree the proposal for setting up Community Forums for Strategic Sites as outlined in Appendix A; and

(B) To agree the proposal for establishing a Development Management Forum as outlined in Appendix B.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the report on Community and Development Management Forums and said that the report acknowledged the importance of community engagement in the planning process. The report proposed setting up community forums for strategic sites across the district to assist with communication and engagement with residents. The Community Forums would provide an opportunity for developers, residents, community groups, members and council officers to engage with each other over the lifetime of a development.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said the report also outlined the set-up of a Development Management Forum for applications that met certain criteria so that the sharing of any planning concerns raised by residents could be addressed early on in the process. The Development Management Forum would be set up for complex or sensitive major planning applications of more than 50 homes. She said the report had been discussed thoroughly by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and had taken on board some of their suggestions.

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

Councillor Redfern felt that the report was a good idea but she asked for further clarification about how the Development Management Forum would work and whether it would be multiple forums or one.

Councillor Glover-Ward said that currently, members of the public only get three minutes to speak at the Development Management Committee. The Forum would be a way of members of the public being able to present their issues with the development and help to provide solutions. The Forum would have members of the Development Management Committee attending and the council would expect developers to come along and listen.

Councillor Redfern asked if this was a meeting where residents could present their views. She said that the report mentioned that there would be three resident representatives allowed to speak.

Councillor Glover-Ward said that the Forum was designed to be more structured than an open public meeting so residents would need to select three representatives as opposed to everyone getting a chance to speak.

Councillor Daar welcomed the paper and said that it would be helpful in bridging the gap between developers and residents.

Councillor Goldspink spoke in her role as a Bishop’s Stortford Town Council planning member and said she welcomed the report as the Town Council planning committee often did not feel heard by the district council.

Councillor Dumont asked how the three resident representatives were selected.

The Head of Planning said that any representative that wanted to address the Forum needed to receive 25 signatures from residents to submit a request and residents would need to coordinate this themselves.

Councillor Glover-Ward said that the Community Forums would be more like a public town hall meeting.

Councillor Redfern thanked the Executive Member for clarification on her questions.

Councillor Crystall referred to page 420 which provided a diagram to explain the process.

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 (A) the proposal for setting up Community Forums for Strategic Sites as outlined in Appendix A be agreed; and

(B) the proposal for establishing a Development Management Forum as outlined in Appendix B be agreed.