Agenda item

The Committee will receive an update on progress with the development of the Buckinghamshire Local Plan.

Contributors:

Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

Darran Eggleton, Head  of Service, Planning, Policy and Compliance

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Darran Eggleton, Head of Service, Planning, Policy and Compliance and John Cheston, Planning Policy Manager to the meeting. The Cabinet Member highlighted the following main points:

• There continued to be uncertainty in connection with anticipated changes to the planning framework following the appointment of Michael Gove as the new Secretary of State in Autumn 2021. It was now being suggested that any changes to planning might be included in the Levelling Up and Regeneration bill.
• Eleven local authorities had chosen to suspend the development of their Local Plans as a result of this uncertainty, but Buckinghamshire was continuing to work on the development of the Local Plan and officers were concentrating on elements of work that they hope would not need to be revised.
• The principal workstream to date focussed on identifying brownfield sites. On 6^th December 2021 a second call for brownfield sites had been launched and a further 47 sites had been proposed to date.  A lot of brownfield sites had already been developed and whilst it would be preferable to concentrate future development on brownfield, it was recognised that this would not provide all the necessary space required to meet the government housing numbers.
• An Attitudes Survey had been undertaken to enable members of the public to provide feedback on their key priorities for the Local Plan at an early stage. There had been 3439 responses to the survey, which was a positive sign of engagement.
• The two main elements of the Local Plan – the key policies and the nominated sites, would be subject to consultation with the public and other stakeholders, such as Town and Parish Councils.
• It was noted that until the new Local Plan was finalised the current Wycombe Local Plan and Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan would remain in place.

The Chairman invited members’ questions and in response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• In connection with a question about the survey response, the Cabinet Member advised that he had seen the provisional results of the survey. Early responses had come from an older demographic so there was a communications push on social media to try and engage with younger residents too. The geographical spread of response would also be analysed.  The Cabinet Member was happy to share the survey response with the Select Committee shortly.

ACTION: Cllr Gareth Williams

• A Member expressed concern that areas in the south of the county were currently vulnerable to speculative planning applications.  The Cabinet Member advised that the five-year land supply numbers would shortly be released which would provide some protection, alongside the protection already afforded by the Green Belt and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
• It was noted that the timescale for completion of the Local Plan in light of potential Government changes was very challenging.  The Cabinet Member would share an updated timeframe for Local Plan delivery at his next update to the Committee.
• The Cabinet Member was also asked how Members could get more involved with the Local Plan. In response, the Cabinet Member reported that there was a Member Local Plan Working Group which included the Chairs of all the Council’s Planning Committees and others who were feeding views into the Local Plan. The Working Group had consulted with previous Cabinet Members of the legacy District Councils about their experiences of producing a Local Plan and had also held sessions considering Density, Design Codes and Environmental and Climate Change.  All 147 members would have the opportunity to comment at the consultation stages and the Cabinet Member was open to discussions with any Members who had particular expertise.
• National guidelines for environmental standards in new home building would be followed although there was flexibility to determine if higher standards should be applied in Buckinghamshire. The environmental impact would have to be balanced against the affordability of the housing and Council would agree the policies around this.
• It was highlighted that the Statement of Community Involvement was difficult to locate on the Council’s website. Officers agreed to look into this.
• There was a discussion around the number of Town and Parish Councils that have agreed a Neighbourhood Plan and what influence these might have over the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire.  It was reported 40% of Town and Parish Councils in the county had a designated neighbourhood area and there were currently 30 Neighbourhood Plans in place and 38 more were in development, including 4 which were reviews of existing plans. With regard to planning decisions, whilst Neighbourhood Plans would be taken into consideration, the Buckinghamshire Local Plan would take priority.
• Members asked what more could be done to promote Neighbourhood Plans to Town and Parish Councils as the take up seemed very low.  The Cabinet Member explained that regular planning forums were held with Town and Parish Councils and Neighbourhood Plans were also promoted via Buckinghamshire Association of Local Council (BALC) forums as well. Some Parishes were perhaps nervous about the relevance of Neighbourhood Plans and they did involve a lot of work. A Member commented that 6 of his 7 Parishes had Neighbourhood Plans and he believed that this had prevented some unwanted developments.
• The Cabinet Member reported that 1200 people had responded to the consultation which Chesham Town Council ran when preparing their Neighbourhood Plan. This level of engagement was good to see and also helped to inform Buckinghamshire Council about what people want to see locally and could help to add local texture to the Local Plan.
• A Member commented that Neighbourhood Plans helped to preserve areas of character and could consider smaller elements such as grass verges and shop fronts which can really contribute to the local community.
• Darran Eggleton commented that there was a team to support the development of Neighbourhood Plans and he would encourage Town and Parish Councils to be proactive and work towards this, as a Neighbourhood Plan would help when planning decisions are being taken.
• A Member asked about sustainability issues and commented that there were lots of innovative ways that concrete and more natural materials could be used in developments.  The Cabinet Member advised that the Local Plan would not be too prescriptive about what materials should be used as there were pros and cons for different construction styles and there could be recurrent costs with certain materials that would also need to be taken into account.
• In response to concerns raised about planning applications around Iver and Wexham in the South of the County, the Cabinet Member advised that there had been lots of discussions with Colne Valley Park, local members and the MP and permission for development in the Green Belt was only granted in exceptional circumstances.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and his officer team for attending the meeting.