Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October 2014

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October 2014 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Further to minute 13 headed ‘Carbon Management Plan’ the Cabinet Member (Business, Enterprise and Employment), who attended the meeting by invitation, confirmed his support for a letter, signed by the Cabinet Member (Business, Enterprise and Employment) and the Chair of the Business, Enterprise and Economy Scrutiny Board (3), to be sent to the Department of Energy and Climate Change on the inclusion of schools in the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

Briefing Note of the Executive Director, Place

Members of the Board agreed that, due to the strong link between the Local Plan and the Housing Land Availability Assessment, it was appropriate to consider the feedback of consultation for both issues together at the meeting.

The Board received briefing notes of the Executive Director of Place that provided Members with summaries of the feedback received in respect of the period of public engagement for the Local Plan – Delivering Sustainable Growth (September 2014) and the Draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) that ran from 12^th September and 31^st October 2014 and was subsequently extended to allow additional time for local resident groups to submit their views and thoughts. The extension was primarily in response to difficulty arranging suitable neighbourhood meetings and presentations within the original seven week period and concerns raised by some neighbourhood groups about their understanding and awareness of the plan. The briefing notes covered the feedback received by the Planning Policy Team to 24^th October 2014, covering the first 6 weeks of the consultation period. Further summaries of the additional feedback received in the final week of the consultation processes and during the extended period were presented at the meeting.

Throughout the period of engagement the Council’s Planning Policy Team worked jointly with the Communications Team to ensure that comprehensive communications strategies had been delivered and that the SHLAA supported the Local Plan. This was carried out in full accordance with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement and also included the first stage of an Equalities and Consultation Analysis.

The SHLAA represented a technical evidence document that was required by National Guidance to support the development of a Local Plan. It provided an initial overview of opportunities that could exist within the Local Authority area to meet the identified housing need, and as such supported the Council in demonstrating a robust housing land supply to 2031. These opportunities could be immediately available for development or offer longer term options should the site become available. Sites that were identified through the SHLAA were not guaranteed to be allocated in the Local Plan or be granted planning permission. They were still required to satisfy relevant planning policy through an application process and overcome any identified constraints. The SHLAA was also subject to regular review to ensure the sites identified within it were regularly assessed. This consultation supported this process and would help ensure the Council continued to identify a robust housing land supply.

The SHLAA was focused on site specific proposals and this had been reflected in the feedback received to the consultation process. A table in the Briefing Note circulated highlighted the sites within the SHLAA that had generated discussion and commentary as part of the consultation process.

In addition to the sites identified within the SHLAA, a further seven sites had been identified to officers for further consideration, of which one of those sites was adjacent to the City boundary within a separate Local Authority area. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

Outstanding Issues are included in the Work Programme below.

Outstanding issues were included in the Board’s Work Programme.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3):

1)  Notes the Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2014/2015.

2)  Requests that detailed reports be submitted to the 17^th December 2014 meeting of the Board in respect of the agenda items scheduled relating to ‘City Centre Developments’ and ‘Friargate’.

3)  Notes that a Joint meeting of the Education Services Scrutiny Board (2) and Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) has been arranged on 4^th March 2015 for them to receive a progress update on those not in education, employment or training.

There were no other items of public business.