Meeting documents

The Cabinet received a report analysing planning appeal decisions received between 1 January and 31 December 2016 and the performance issues arising from these. The Cabinet were asked to agree a number of measures to address these in light of new performance targets being introduced by the Government.  

The proposed Interim Design Guidance Document would provide residents, developers and staff with useful guidance. The estimated £25,000, required to engage external resource, to prepare the document would be met from the planning reserve. There was close working between the Development Control and Planning Policy teams to ensure development management policies are in place within the Joint Local Plan. It was also important that the document was supplemented with good training for staff.

Members noted the proposed additional recommendation 3 that the Interim Design Guidance Document be considered by Services Overview and Planning Committees so that Members’ comments can be referred back to Cabinet.

In response to questions it was noted that the Council was working with other local authorities that had produced similar documents in order to find best practice. It was considered important to have a Guidance document soon to form the basis of a more formal document later on. The aim of this was to reduce the risk of appeals.

Members considered it important to ensure that the correct planning decisions were made in order to reduce the number of planning applications lost at appeal. The estimated resource required was considered necessary. Training was welcomed and it was suggested that this be done jointly with South Bucks District Council.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor P Jones spoke in support of the creation of the proposed design guide, and referred to other useful design guides that had been made in the past. Planning Committee Members had also requested a similar document. In response to concerns about the document being temporary it was noted that a Supplementary Planning Document normally followed the adoption of a Local Plan, however, it was felt that the Design Guide would provide a good foundation for this, was unlikely to be significantly different, and was required urgently.

Regarding timescales it was anticipated that following liaison with other Councils and the provision of training that the scoping of the document would be finished in August/September 2017.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Phillips spoke in support for the proposed measures. The benefit of having a broad statement on what the Council expected in relation to development in the district was highlighted. This would help to bring together all planning polices and help spell out clearly what these meant in the context of an individual settlement site and provide more clarity, for example by what was meant by the term “overdevelopment” particularly in relation to equestrian sites. The Council, by not having this document in place, had a weakness that had been highlighted by Planning Inspectors. The joint working with other Councils was welcomed.

Following the discussion, the Cabinet then