Minutes:
In his role as Leader of the Borough Council, the Chairman opened the discussion by reminding Members of the key milestones achieved so far in the preparation of the Local Plan.
It was explained that every council in the country had a statutory obligation to identify sufficient land for future house building and this had to be set out in a Local Plan. The number of houses that had to be planned for was decided by an approach set down by central Government and not by the local council. In Tonbridge and Malling the housing need had been identified as 13,920 homes for the period of the Local Plan up to 2031. This represented a figure of 696 dwellings per year and meant that, over and above sites already completed, under construction and approved, sufficient new land to build an additional 6,800 homes had to be identified.
Following the Call for Sites exercise and evidence-based assessment the draft Local Plan now included 31 sites, refined to achieve an estimated potential yield of 6,834 new dwellings. This had significantly reduced in size to reflect Local Plan evidence and changes arising from consultations.
The Leader reiterated the very severe consequences if the Borough Council failed in its duty to adopt a Local Plan. Without a Plan in place the Borough Council’s ability to manage development would be weakened. In addition, the failure to submit a Local Plan within the transitional period set out by the Government in the new draft National Planning Policy Framework (published on 24 July 2018) would result in significant risks associated with having to address a substantially higher housing provision. It would also cause significant further delays, which would place the Borough Council in a more vulnerable position in terms of land supply in responding to planning applications and facing planning appeals.
In summary, the Leader indicated that generally it was accepted that more homes were required for future generations. However, these should be in the right place and supported by adequate infrastructure. This was what the Local Plan sought to do and it was the responsibility of the Borough Council to consider the strategic overview given the difficult task set by Government. It was noted that the Local Plan was unlikely to resolve community infrastructure problems completely, although it was hoped that the situation could be improved by maximising investment from developers, as identified in the Local Plan.
The Head of Planning and the Planning Policy Manager then provided an update on the preparation of the Local Plan. A revised draft document with a refined development strategy, policies and proposals had been considered recently by the Planning and Transportation Advisory Board on 5 June and 24 July and at an Extraordinary Cabinet on 3 September 2018. The latter had recommended to Council that the draft Local Plan be approved for submission to the Secretary of State after a further period of statutory consultation. Further detail set out in these reports was available on the Borough Council’s website; together with the completed evidence base including the Infrastructure Delivery Plan.
Reference was made to the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and it was confirmed that the transitional arrangements, previously outlined, remained in place. Consequently the target date for submitting the Local Plan to the Secretary of State was now 24 January 2019, if the Borough Council wished to have the Plan examined against the previous NPPF and in particular to avoid the new standardised approach to housing assessment.
Members were advised that, subject to Council approval, the next step would be further public consultation (Regulation 19) and there would be a detailed information pack and a full set of documents to comment on. It was envisaged that a six week public consultation would start at the beginning of October 2018, or very soon after, and would give local residents and other parties the opportunity to comment on the proposals. These comments/representations would be submitted to the Secretary of State with the Local Plan and would ultimately be considered by an appointed Planning Inspector.
A number of tools would be used during the consultation including the website, social media platforms, YouTube, infographics and an opportunity for face to face discussions via drop in sessions. There would also be hard copies of documents at various locations (Council offices and libraries) to maximise coverage. All forms used as part of the Regulation 19 consultation would be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Although there was opportunity to comment on the Plan (via the Regulation 19 consultation arrangements) it was unlikely that the Borough Council would make any substantive changes as the document was believed to be ‘sound’. However, the Planning Inspector could decide on amendments and it was, therefore, important for organisations and residents to participate in the consultation process. All information related to the Local Plan, including representations received under Regulation 19, would be collated into common themes and submitted to the Secretary of State and made publically available, subject to General Data Protection Regulations compliance.
It was anticipated that an independent Planning Inspector would be appointed to the Borough Council early in 2019 if the draft Local Plan was submitted in December 2018 as planned. Once an Inspector was appointed they would contact the Borough Council to make arrangements for a hearing within Tonbridge and Malling. Public Examinations ordinarily took 4-6 weeks to review all the evidence with a further 3 months before a final decision was made. There was also the possibility of the Inspector asking to hear from those who had made representations, but this was subject to their discretion and subject to the points made.
The Borough Council anticipated adopting the new Local Plan by the end of 2019, subject to the Inspector’s comments and any suggested amendments.
The following comments and points were raised, discussed and noted:
- It was important that any representations submitted in advance of the formal consultation were resubmitted as part of the Regulation 19 consultation to avoid confusion and to ensure they were forwarded to the Secretary of State/Planning Inspector for consideration.
- It was confirmed that any resident or organisation could comment on any site whether or not they were included in the draft Local Plan and the Chairman strongly encouraged participation in the consultation. Technical advice could be provided by Planning Services.
- The Head of Planning indicated that residents would be advised that there was opportunity to object (or support) sites not in the draft Local Plan during promotion of the Regulation 19 consultation.
- Members recognised the significant risk to the Borough Council of missing the transitional period submission deadline of December 2018 and noted the significant penalty that could be imposed in terms of increased numbers of housing.
- It was emphasised that if Council did not approve the draft Local Plan the process would need to be substantially restarted and be subject to the revised NPPF which would lead to significant delay and an increase in housing figures to address.
- The status of existing policies such as the Central Area Action Plan and Climate Change Policy were queried. In response, it was clarified that these policies would no longer apply as other measures to address these concerns would be set out in the Local Plan. It was hoped that this would provide greater flexibility and would run alongside the NPPF and the Planning Policy Guidance.
- The introduction of new GDPR legislation in May 2018 had represented a significant challenge regarding the publication and sharing of personal information. This had impacted upon the Borough Council’s ability to publish representations received via the Regulation 18 consultation, which had been collected prior to a disclaimer and privacy notice being available. Action had been taken to resolve this for the Regulation 19 consultation and all information would include a disclaimer which would make it easier to publish.
Finally, the Forum was reminded that the Local Plan was a strategic document and would be a valuable tool in supporting and guiding development management throughout the Borough.