Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Carl Etholen, Tom Hunter-Watts, Andrea Baughan, Qaser Chaudhry and Nic Brown.

Councillor Bill Chapple OBE was in attendance substituting for Councillor Chris Poll.

Councillor Nathan Thomas was in attendance substituting for Councillor Isobel Darby.

Councillor Bill Chapple OBE declared an interest in item 6 as Vice Chairman of the Aylesbury Garden Town Board.

Councillor Stuart Wilson declared an interest in item 7 as a member of the Member Development Working Group.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 6th October 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee. The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

There were no public questions.

Contributors:

Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and

Regeneration

Cllrs Stuart Wilson and David Watson

Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment

Nick Graham, Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services

Supporting Papers:

Call in Report and Appendices

Call in Request

Monitoring Officer response to Call in

Cabinet Report and Appendices considered at Cabinet on 11^th October 2022

Cabinet Minutes Extract from 11^th October 2022

Extract of Buckinghamshire Constitution detailing Call In Procedure

Cabinet Decision and Supporting Papers

The Chairman invited Nick Graham, Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services, to outline the process for hearing the call-in and to advise the Select Committee on the validity of the call-in request that had been received in relation to the decision on Little Marlow Lakes Country Park taken at Cabinet on 11th October 2022.

Nick Graham reminded the committee of the call-in process laid out on page 161 of the Council’s constitution. This statutory right could be applied to decisions made by Cabinet. The call-in request had been submitted by Cllr Stuart Wilson supported by a further 32 councillors, which met the required 15% of total councillors.

Nick Graham noted that the call-in request had been made on 3 grounds. The monitoring officer had rejected the first and second grounds. The third ground was found valid and subject to consideration at the Select Committee. The third ground related to Buckinghamshire Council being unable to deliver SANG (Suitable Area of Natural Green Space) requirements, as set out in Appendix 2, the call-in request form.

RESOLVED – That the Select Committee agreed that the third ground of the call-in request was valid and that the Select Committee would continue to hear evidence from both sides at this meeting.

The Call-in Submission – Cllrs Stuart Wilson and David Watson

The Chairman invited Cllr Stuart Wilson and Cllr David Watson to explain their reasons for requesting a call-in of the Cabinet decision of 11^th October. The following main points were noted:

·       Cllr Wilson felt the Cabinet Decision failed on the delivery of the country park at Little Marlow as envisaged and promised in the Wycombe Local Plan. The Cabinet decision for a substantially reduced country park could not meet the recreational mitigation requirements necessary for the major developments in Bourne End and Wooburn to proceed. The building would likely continue without the promised Little Marlow Lakes Country Park developing in parallel.

·      The Council’s failure to commit to the full country park now would give further encouragement and rise to future speculative industrial developments in the Little Marlow Lakes Country Park area.

·       The response given in the report did not address the fundamental issues with the Cabinet decision. The area designated to be SANG could only be the area in the Council’s ownership which would need to be negotiated with Natural England.

·       The technical requirements for SANG were laid out in the appendix to the cabinet report. Natural England initially agreed to the SANG proposals for the Hollands Farm development in Bourne End based on the deliverability of 329 hectares and not the 55 hectares proposed here. Paragraph 2.14 of the response failed to note this difference.

·       Natural England had re-inspected the site on 8^th December and concluded that the site could be SANG compliant but with preconditions. The frequently polluting sewage treatment works is next to the path round Spade Oak Quarry. There is a limited space between the lake and the Sewage works and screening would not prevent the smell. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Members will receive a programme update on the Aylesbury Garden Town programme and Aylesbury town centre activity.

Contributors:

Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council

Claire Phillips, Head of Strategy & Partnerships

The Committee received an update from Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and Lisa Michelson, Service Director, Economic Growth and Regeneration, on the Aylesbury Garden Town.

The following points were highlighted:

·       The Aylesbury Garden Town was important for the economic growth agenda around Aylesbury. The project would aim to improve the town establishing it as an excellent place to live. Improvements were aimed at housing, green infrastructure, leisure centres and the town centre.

·       Bids for levelling up funds had been submitted for the regeneration of the bus station, south east ring road and the Gardenway. The result of these bids would be revealed by the end of 2022. Various Aylesbury wards had been identified as targeted wards for Opportunity Bucks, the Council’s local levelling up initiative. There are 4 work streams within the programme -  workforce & employment, skills & development, public health and public realm. These work streams would be used to improve lives of local residents and target those in certain wards.

·       Following the transformation of Aylesbury in the 1960’s, the historic centre of the town was replaced. This created areas within Aylesbury with distinctly different styles.

·       The Council owns the County Hall, as well as Friar’s Square. The Economic Growth and Regeneration Team would be looking in detail at redevelopment plans for these areas to find an appropriate style.

·       The projects for the area would need to be conducted in partnership with various organisations due to the substantial cost. Discussions had taken place with the Local Enterprise Partnership on how to leverage funding into the area. There would also be the need for major private sector funding. Significant challenges had arisen from massive inflation which has especially affected the construction sector. Local MPs, such as Rob Butler, had been very supportive of lobbying for funding.

During discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:

·       The final decision on the character of town had not yet been decided, this would involve significant consultation with various stakeholders. Input from local people would be important for this.

·       Town centre regeneration was an identified ambition as part of the masterplan. Detailed proposals would be brought to Cabinet during 2023. This would look at opportunities and challenges, as well as how the Council could best influence its investment. Stakeholders and the public will be involved and input from local people will be sought.

·       A distinct style for the regeneration had not been identified, and there was an aim ito find a durable approach, and not something that would fall out of fashion quickly.

·       The Aylesbury Masterplan went to public consultation in 2020, and was adopted by the Council. Further updates had been included in press releases and ongoing communication would be pursued as necessary. Thought would be given to the method which would be most effective when disruption from the projects would occur.

·         There were areas of significant deprivation in Buckinghamshire, and measures such as those included in the Aylesbury Garden  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members will receive an update on the Member engagement in Planning review.

Contributors:

Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment

The Committee received an update from Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and Steve Bambrick, Service Director, Planning & Environment.

The Committee will discuss and note the Work Programme for future meetings.

Members were advised to contact the Scrutiny Officer for the committee with any additional topics they wished to be included in the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing work programme.

The next meeting will take place on 16th February 2023 at 10.00 a.m.

The next meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee would be on 16^th February 2023 at 10am.