Meeting documents

There were no declarations of interest.

The Cabinet received a report on the creation of a Joint Spatial Planning Framework which would guide the process of securing the wider gains from the proposed expansion of Heathrow, which did not already form part of the Development Consent Order (DCO), including economic gains and other transport improvements within the region. A Statement of Common Ground on the JSPF was due to be developed with Member authorities for submission to the Examination of the Heathrow DCO.

Cabinet Members discussed the report and made the following comments:-

·         The map relating to the zones of influence around Heathrow Airport (page 27 of the agenda) was not big enough and excluded many part of South Bucks District which needed to be expanded to include areas such as Burnham, Taplow, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross, Stoke Poges, Denham and the Ivers, whilst understanding that the Ivers would be deeply impacted. The Senior Infrastructure Consultant reported that he had raised this with HSPG informally and in response had been told that the interaction map related to hotel occupancy adjacent to the airport and that this map would need to be refined to take into account other areas such as residents, businesses and environmental factors.

·         There were connecting issues in different DCO’s which needed to be addressed through one Framework. Air and ground noise need to be addressed through the Land Use DCO and the Air Change DCO.

·         Air quality and environmental impacts needed to be incorporated into the Framework.

·         Number of bus hubs needed to be increased to deal with the increase in passengers with regular bus services. Another Cabinet Member also referred to public transport links to Pinewood Studios.

·         There needed to be detailed consideration about north/south connectivity to ensure that passengers could use public transport which also needed to include Old Oak Common, the Elizabeth and Chiltern Line. There needed to be more thought about the transport network and direct public transport links to Heathrow without travelling into London.

·         HAL needed to look at a bigger vision for example, Bosch had its headquarters in Denham and it was important to establish good economic and transport links and to be innovative.

Cabinet Members agreed that an additional recommendation be added with regard to the sign off of the final draft document in paragraph 2 below.

The Cabinet received a report on the creation of a Joint Spatial Planning Framework which would guide the process of securing the wider gains from the proposed expansion of Heathrow, which did not already form part of the Development Consent Order (DCO), including economic gains and other transport improvements within the region. A Statement of Common Ground on the JSPF was due to be developed with Member authorities for submission to the Examination of the Heathrow DCO.

The Framework would bring Heathrow Airport Limited mitigation and funding outside the current ‘redline’ (the development boundary) of the DCO which was tightly drawn to the Heathrow expansion site. The Framework would be a ‘non-statutory’ guide to future planning to secure gains from collaborative working and was intended to influence the Planning Inspectorate decision on the submitted DCO.

The Acting Chief Executive reported that the HSPG considered that the JSPF and Statement of Common Ground were important tools for shaping the wider impact of the Heathrow development given that so much land to be impacted was outside the DCO boundary. The Framework was currently a draft document and a decision would need to be taken on the final document by the new Buckinghamshire Council.

The Senior Infrastructure Consultant commented that South Bucks District Council was just a consultee and had no controls over the development but the Framework would define a wider area that was affected by the proposals and enable joint working between the Councils, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Government to implement the agreed strategy and introduce a mechanism to secure funding that could be spread over the geography of the Framework for infrastructure investment. This was the largest DCO in the UK to date and would have consequences for the District in terms of land use, transport and quality of life. The Senior Infrastructure Consultant updated Cabinet Members on the comments made at the Planning and Economic Development Policy Advisory Group which covered areas such as concerns around the surface access strategy, the map showing the zones of influence being too tightly drawn, modal shift to public transport, air and ground noise, improvements to air quality and gap in north/south connectivity.

Cabinet Members discussed the report and the comments made previously by Members and made the following comments:-

·         The map relating to the zones of influence around Heathrow Airport (page 27 of the agenda) was not big enough and excluded many part of South Bucks District which needed to be expanded to include areas such as Burnham, Taplow, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross, Stoke Poges, Denham and the Ivers, whilst understanding that the Ivers would be deeply impacted. The Senior Infrastructure Consultant reported that he had raised this with HSPG informally and in response had been told that the interaction map related to hotel occupancy adjacent to the airport and that this map would need to be refined to take into account other areas such as residents, businesses and environmental factors.

·         There were connecting issues in different DCO’s which needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.