Meeting documents

Members will review and assess the progress towards completion and implementation of the Inquiry recommendations.

Contributors:

Martin Tett, Leader

Bill Chapple, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

Lisa Michelson, Head of Strategic Planning and Infrastructure

The Chairman welcomed Mr Tett, Leader; Mr Chapple, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment; and Ms Michelson, Head of Strategic Infrastructure Planning.

The full discussion can be found on the webcast and the detail of the recommendation focus can be found in the progress report within the agenda.

Mr Tett introduced the item with an overview which included the following points:

• The Local Planning Authorities in Buckinghamshire had been proceeding with establishing growth plans through the Local Plan process.  Two of the districts (AVDC and WDC) had completed their Examination in Public hearings and could be adopting a Local Plan this year.   South Bucks District Council and Chiltern District Council were expected to consult on a Local Plan in 2019.  These local plans would establish the growth plans to 2033.
• The County Council was supporting the development of the local plans.
• Planning was taking place within the existing world and context and in parallel, work was looking at the longer term strategic economic infrastructure, e.g. England’s Economic Heartland, East West Rail etc.
• Government had published its preferred corridor for the expressway – Milton Keynes to Oxford.
• The longer term strategy was being led by England’s Economic Heartland.
• The Government had responded to the National Infrastructure Commission report ‘Partnering for Prosperity: a new deal for the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc, November 2017’ as part of the autumn budget announcements in 2018 which set a few key positions.  It reinforced the ambitions for significant growth across the Ox-MK-Camb Corridor for 1 million new homes (to 2050) and designated the Corridor as a key economic priority area nationally.
• In addition, the Department for Transport had been pushing forward with determining a route for a new Expressway within the corridor (announcement expected in 2019).  The growth timeline for these strategic infrastructure projects went further than the timetables for the Local Plans; they consider growth projections to 2050 – or even further out in the case of the new corridor expressway.  The decisions on these and detail of implementation and impact was not yet established.
• The Expressway was integral to the recommendations of the National Infrastructure Commission.
• The Expressway Corridor along with East West Rail would see significant housing growth which meant that potential development sites needed to be identified.
• The challenge was to cope with the world as it was known now and respond to emerging government policy and how to shape that policy. Members were reminded of how growth needed to be well planned and well supported e.g. the series of link roads around Aylesbury as it grows as a town. Aylesbury itself was under significant pressure. The Aylesbury Garden Town initiative was looking at how the Town Centre could be rejuvenated.
• Members heard how the Bucks Strategic Infrastructure Plan had been in development for two years. It contained  high level of information and would be the foundation document to help the new council set the future infrastructure needs of the county
• The recent Modernising Local Government (MLG) decision in November of 2018 would see the establishment of a new organisation.  This would change the partnership working arrangements across the Local Planning Authorities and the County Council and the way that growth was planned for.  Preparing services for future delivery needed to be integrated to the service transformation which would take place as part of the MLG process.

Members moved on to the areas of recommendation and asked questions on the progress made. The following points were raised:

·         Resources and the Capital Investment Strategy: Members heard that it was hoped that the Housing Infrastructure Fund bid that would be submitted in March would provide the resources required. The process was explained to Members for funding for the growth agenda. The Growth agenda and housing would be identified, the infrastructure required would be identified and then the sources of funding would come from HIF, Community Infrastructure Levey Section 106 and the local Authority etc.

Ms L Michelson summarised the progress of the recommendations which fell within two main areas:

1. Corporate governance and systems – Robust planning for growth and planning for service delivery. Which included:

·         How the growth agenda had been integrated into the service resource and planning

·         Integrated information gathering

·         The Corporate Working Group and bringing services together to look at the impacts of growth.

2. The Bucks Strategic Infrastructure Plan:

·         This would provide the evidence base going forward. She highlighted that it needed to be promoted and developed further for a clear picture and to be able to fully understand growth and the infrastructure required to deliver that growth.

·         It would help the Council and partners to understand gaps in the growth infrastructure.

·         During the discussion with Members it was highlighted that the Councilwould need to consider the wider context of BSIP and importance of being involved in strategic discussions on national infrastructure projects e.g. Expressway, Heathrow Expansion,. The BSIPwould form the critical baseline information.

The Chairman reminded Members and the public that the full detail of the progress towards individual recommendations could be found in the progress report in the agenda.

Members discussed with Mr Tett and Ms Michelson the changing context and landscape around growth and the evolving nature of the work that surrounded this. Members agreed that given the evolving nature, they were satisfied that the recommendations that were made in the original inquiry were being progressed and would be signed off as below:

• Completed Recommendations: The Committee agreed that recommendations 1, 4, 6, and 7 were completed.
• There were some evolving areas that Members agreed they would continue to receive updates on throughout the year – these were areas that were ongoing and in development due to the evolving nature of growth..  The remaining recommendations fall into the following areas which the Committee would continue to receive updates on:

Ø  the establishment and development of the Buckinghamshire Strategic Infrastructure Plan;

Ø  ensuring that appropriate corporate governance was in place to prepare teams and directorates to plan for changes in service demands associated with future growth scenarios, and;

Ø  the evolving partnership working in light of modernising local government and the future strategic growth engagement that Buckinghamshire would play a part in with regional partners and Government over the coming year.

Members agreed that given the changing context since the review was carried out, they would sign off the inquiry recommendations as they were and monitor the areas highlighted above going forward.

The Chairman thanked Ms Michelson, Mr Tett and Mr Chapple for their informative update and confirmed that the Committee would work with the Officers and Cabinet Members to identify the most effective approach to the Committee having oversight and adding value to this area of work going forward.