Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2024

b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of City Services

The consideration of this item was deferred to a future Cabinet Member meeting.

Report of the Director of City Services

The consideration of this item was deferred to a future Cabinet Member meeting.

Report of the Director of City Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of City Services which sought authority to undertake a six-week consultation on the Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) Development Plan Document (DPD) modifications.

HMOs could provide important accommodation for a range of people including those entering the housing market. However, they could also bring significant disruption to settled neighbourhoods. In order to ensure that HMOs could only come forward in ways that integrate with existing neighbourhoods, a Development Plan Document (DPD) and accompanying Sustainability Scoping/Appraisal were consulted on between 20 September and 15 November 2022 at Regulation 18 and between 27 March and 15 May 2023 at Regulation 19;  these consultations were undertaken in the formulation of the DPD which was then submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in September 2023, with hearings held in January 2024. 

Further to the findings at examination, the Council now sought to undertake a six-week consultation upon modifications now agreed with the planning inspector, this being in line with legislative requirements and the adopted Coventry City Council Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).

The HMO DPD Main Modifications document as attached at Appendix two of the report would need to be published for a formal six-week period consultation to seek views on the proposed Main Modifications only. This was not an opportunity to raise matters that either were, or could have been, part of the earlier representations or hearings on the submitted plan. Comments would need to be focussed on matters of soundness. These would be the issues on which the appointed Planning Inspector would focus and consider before issuing the final report and whether the Council could proceed to adoption of the DPD.

It was also a requirement, as set out in the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (SEA Regulations), to undertake Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal (SEA/SA) for Development Plan Documents and therefore the SA addendum attached as Appendix three to the report would also form part of the statutory consultation.

For completeness, the Equalities/Health Impact assessment would also be made available for public comment.

Members welcomed the consultation as it meant that progress was being made to improve and protect neighbourhoods. The Cabinet Member considered this a big step forward in terms of improving HMOs in the city and was pleased that this went through with relatively few minor changes. The Cabinet Member also thanked officers and the Planning Inspector for considering this, which formed one part of the work being done in the city to improve neighbourhoods and standards. He added that additional licensing was starting to have an impact in the city, and this would provide another option to push back on poor quality developments.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member:

1.  Notes the content of the Main Modifications to the HMO DPD contained at Appendix Two of the report and the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) & Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) Addendum Note at Appendix Three along with the Equalities/Health Impact Assessment at Appendix Six and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report of the Director of City Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of City Services which sought approval to commence a public consultation on the University of Warwick Campus Framework Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The purpose of the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) would be to provide a framework for guiding the level an broad location of growth on the main University of Warwick campus as well as design principles to be considered when assessing planning applications on the campus.

The SPD would provide supplementary planning guidance to policy JE1 of the adopted Coventry City Council Local Plan 2017-2031. Policy JE1 (Overall Economy and Employment Strategy) states that ‘The Council would work positively and proactively with the business community in the city, inward investors, the City’s two universities, key public sector employers, the CWLEP and neighbouring local authorities to support sustainable economic growth and job creation’. Part h of the policy specifically references supporting tourism and visitor related development including the campus and Warwick University, and part i of the policy supports the continued growth of the universities. Policy CO1 (New or Improved social, community and leisure premises’), Part 3 states: ‘Where proposals are in accordance with the approved Masterplans for Coventry University or the University of Warwick, they will normally be approved subject to high quality design proposals’. Currently, no such Masterplan was in place for the area.

SPDs are non statutory documents which could be used to cover a wide range of issues giving detailed guidance on how policies or proposals in the development plan documents would be implemented. Accordingly, they can take a form of a design guide, development brief, masterplan or an issue-based document. The SPD proposed in this report would provide a more detailed masterplan framework as well as the supplementary guidance to assist with the determination of future planning applications made in relation to the University of Warwick campus.

The University’s main campus straddles the administrative boundaries of Coventry and Warwick District, with majority of the academic faculty buildings being located in Coventry and residential accommodation and sports facilities being largely located within Warwick District. It was therefore important that the SPD was also consistent with Warwick District Council’s relevant Local Plan policy as it was intended that this would be a jointly prepared and adopted document.

The SPD covered the entirety of the main University campus, and hence addressed land in both Warwick District and Coventry City Council areas. Therefore, both local authorities were seeking approval from their respective Cabinets with a view to conducting a joint public consultation on the SPD. It was proposed that that public consultation in Coventry would commence after the election period. Warwick District Council had gained authority to consult on the document at its Cabinet meeting held on 6 March 2024.

The document sought to set out the University’s plans for future development on campus and their proposed location. The university appointed planning consultants to lead on the drafting of the document with input from a range of other consultants  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of business.