Agenda item

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that planning permission had been granted in January 2025 for 10,000 new homes in the Gilston area, alongside provision for two new major roads and bridges and the many facilities required for these neighbourhoods to thrive.

Members were advised that the proposals were of a scale and complexity previously unseen in East Herts and policy DEL4 of the District Plan required the council to monitor its progress annually. The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the Section 106 agreement associated with the planning permission also contained monitoring obligations for the provision of data and information to assist in decision making relating primarily to education, transport and travel planning, and also economic development.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said there were also triggers and milestones for the delivery of onsite infrastructure and the payment of financial contributions towards the provision of offsite infrastructure. She said that to provide a structured approach to the monitoring and delivery of the development, a monitoring framework had been developed.

Members were advised that a review group comprising of Officers from East Herts Council and Hertfordshire County Council,  in addition to Officers required in the Section 106 agreement would ensure the co-ordination and oversight of the various monitoring activities.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that this group was not a decision-making body but a means of ensuring that there was co-ordination and oversight between the two signatories of the Section 106 agreement. She said that this allowed for discussion on all aspects of the development between the bodies responsible for monitoring and in some instances for delivery.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that East Herts Council and Hertfordshire County Council had obligations in the Section 106 agreement both as individual bodies and in collaboration. She said that it was important that Officers had a safe space in which to conduct these meetings.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the monitoring framework set out the council’s approach to how information about the progress of the development would  be publicised and shared with local communities and other key stakeholders. She said that its objectives were to provide a mechanism for tracking the progress of development throughout the build out of the planning permission to help ensure delivery of homes, infrastructure and mitigations in accordance with the required development milestones and triggers, and a record of delivery.

Members were advised that late comments had been received from the Parishes of Hunsdon and Eastwick and Gilston, after the Democratic Services deadline. The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the council wished to take the opportunity to respond. As a listening council, the input of local communities was  welcomed and encouraged in respect of all development activities across the district.

Members were advised that the council had established several new forums to facilitate community engagement in matters relating to planning applications and the delivery of permitted schemes. She said that the community were the eyes and ears on the ground and were often best placed to be able to advise when impacts are arising, particularly during construction.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that monitoring framework described the technical groups that had been and would be established to monitor the Gilston area developments. These groups would work with the developers and the county council in their role as authorities responsible for education and transport matters.

Members were advised that these groups would be responsible for handling sensitive data, and it was therefore not appropriate for a public engagement in these technical Officer groups. There were a plethora of opportunities in place to ensure that parish representatives in the community were informed of the programme monitoring and delivery matters and for the council to receive feedback from the community.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that parish councillors and the neighbourhood planning group had a monthly meeting via the local estate steering group, where on the ground day to day issues with landowners and construction impacts were discussed. There was also the Gilston Area Community Forum and the Gilston Area Shadow Body, which would become a community management trust.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that there was a monthly district councillor catch up with Councillors Dunlop and Dumont, where Councillor Dunlop was specifically asked questions received from the parish councils and the neighbourhood planning group, so that he could feed back these responses to the respective bodies.

Members were advised that the Gilston.info website could be used by the community and parish councillors to report matters with developers, and also allowed posting and pining information in relation to their activities. As was set out in the framework, annual reports would be prepared, and  Officers were in the process of preparing material for the East Herts website, using  the planning application portals to track the milestones within  the Section 106 agreement.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that notwithstanding these different activities, normal regulatory requirements would continue to apply to the Gilston area development. She said that when applications were made, consultation was carried out with statutory consultees, neighbours and interested parties as applicable to each type of proposal. If changes were made to legal agreements, a planning application would be required, and consultation would be undertaken.

Members were reminded that while parish councils were statutory consultees, this covered the application process and did not extend to monitoring ongoing development. In line with monitoring on other schemes, the council would not extend representation on the delivery and monitoring group to include councillor representatives nor the parishes as this was primarily an Officer group.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that there was an abundance of communication channels for the residents who were most affected by the Gilston area developments, and the council thanked them for their continued engagement. 

Councillor Glover-Ward proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Thomas seconded the proposal and reserved his right to speak.

Councillor E Buckmaster mentioned the representations from the two affected parishes. He said that it was important that the two parish councils had a direct participation and an effective voice on the delivery and monitoring group as local representatives of the most affected residents.

Councillor E Buckmaster said that, as someone who had been closely involved in development within his own ward, the council needed to make sure that there was a forum and a way of ensuring that things were actioned dynamically.

Councillor E Buckmaster mentioned a reference in a letter for the need for a web-based monitoring tool that was updated in real time, which was essential for transparency. He said that the council should keep an open mind as the development unfolded, as there would be all kinds of issues that local people will be concerned about. He said that the local people would be getting directly in touch with parish, district and county councillors, who will want something done rapidly.

Councillor Devonshire said that in addition to Eastwick and Gilston and Hunsdon Parishes, he would like to see High Wych Parish included, as they also had concerns and would like to be kept informed.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that she understood why parish councillors wanted to be on the monitoring and development group. She pointed out that there were no District Councillors or Hertfordshire County Councillors on it. She said that this group was a tactical operation as opposed to one  that took strategic direction.

Members were reminded that councillors were here to provide the strategic direction for the council, and not to get involved in day-to-day matters. The Executive for Planning and Growth said that this was a tactical item, and it would not be appropriate for councillors from the two councils that were signatories to the Section 106 agreement to sit on the group, let alone a parish council that did not have monitoring duties within its remit under the relevant act. She said that she would expand on that when she wrote back to the parish councils.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that she had met with representatives from High Wych at a community forum a couple of times, that she was aware of their interest, and that they were being kept informed.

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 Gilston Area Monitoring Framework, attached at Appendix A, be endorsed.