Agenda item

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the council had agreed that a review of the adopted District Plan should be undertaken. She said that the process of preparing a District Plan was a lengthy and complex exercise but was essential to provide plan led development.

Members were advised that the process of updating the District Plan, which could take several years from start to finish, required a wide range of supporting evidence and was subject to public engagement and independent examination through various stages and procedures that were set out in law.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the current adopted District Plan was enabled by the District Plan Executive Panel, which consisted of a sub-group of Members whose remit was to make recommendations to Council via the Executive on maters associated with the District Plan.

Members were advised that the intention, as set out in the agenda, was to reconvene the District Plan Executive Panel in advance of formal work on the new District Plan starting in early 2026. She said there was an ongoing and continuous need to inform Members of progress both on the preparation of the District Plan, and in respect of feedback from the community.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the preparation process for the District Plan could be time consuming for Executive meetings, which clearly needed to consider other council business, and which may not allow for Members to drill down into the details of a particular issue.

Members were advised that the District Plan Executive Panel would allow for a full consideration before items were then recommended onto the full Executive, and/or full Council. Three Executive Members would sit on the Panel and with all other Members able to attend open sessions, so that everyone could have full input to the discussion.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth advised that all Members would be able to question Planning Policy Officers on the pros and cons of an issue. She said the District Plan Executive Panel had the flexibility to convene meetings that were open to the public with agendas and minutes made available on the council’s website.

Members were advised that any items considered by the District Plan Executive Panel would be presented to the Executive and to Full Council. Councillor Glover-Ward proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported.

Councillor Goldspink seconded the proposal and said that she was delighted that this huge amount of work was being taken on, and that she was extra pleased that all Councillors were being invited to attend if there was a particular part of an agenda that was being discussed. Councillor Goldspink said it was excellent that this was going to be an open and collaborative process.

Councillor Hart said that it was great that the District Plan Executive Panel was going to be an open meeting for people to contribute. She asked how information was going to be disseminated so that Members knew what was coming up for discussion.

Councillor E Buckmaster said that the dissemination of information took place as had been described by the Executive Member for Planning and Growth. He said that the meetings were not interactive but gave the ability for Members to ask their questions and to ask questions on behalf of residents. He said that there was a lot of reading of technical information and Officers were there with the Executive Members to provide the answers.

Councillor Estop welcomed the proposed way forward and said that an alternative would be a policy committee. She said that the most important things was that there was Member involvement, Member leadership and openness in the process.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth thanked Councillor E Buckmaster for his comments and said that she would expect that Officers would publish agendas in the normal way as the Council would for any public meeting of the authority, i.e. 5 clear working days in advance.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth advised that she would endeavour to comply with the requirement that Executive Members include updates in the Members Information Bulletin to cover what they had been working on in their portfolio areas of responsibility.

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 District Plan Executive Panel is reconvened as a sub-group of Executive for the specific purposes of advancing the new District Plan;

(B)       Three Members are drawn from the Executive to sit on the District Plan Executive Panel, namely Councillors Vicky Glover-Ward (Chair), Ben Crystall and Joseph Dumont, with Councillor Tim Hoskin nominated as a substitute for Green Party members and Councillor Chris Wilson for Councillor Joseph Dumont, and

(C)       The Council’s website is updated to reflect the formation and purpose of the Panel and forms the primary source of information pertaining to the Panel.