SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
(ECONOMYANDENVIRONMENT)
MINUTES of an extraordinary meeting held on
19th December, 2007.
Present: Councillor N.P. Hodges
(Chairman); Councillors R.J. Bertin,
J. Clifford, Miss J. Cole, A.D. Dobbinson, E.
Hacker, Mrs. A.J. Preston, Mrs. S.I. Sharpe, W.C.
Vaughan, A.J. Williams and M.R. Wilson.
675 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors Ms. L.
Burnett, G.A. Cox and Mrs. A.J. Moore.
676 DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST -
No declarations were received.
677 VALE OF GLAMORGAN
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN: DRAFT PREFERRED STRATEGY AND INITIAL
SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL REPORT (DEER) -
Cabinet had, on 12th December, 2007
considered the above report, had endorsed the LDP Draft Preferred
Strategy and Initial Sustainability Appraisal Report for public
consultation purposes in Spring 2008, and had referred the same to
this and to the Planning Committee for consideration. The
Planning Committee considered the matter on 13th
December and subsequently endorsed the decisions of Cabinet.
It was noted that a report on representations to the Draft Strategy
and Appraisal Report would be submitted to this and the Planning
Committees prior to its submission to Cabinet later in 2008
(Minute No. C3321 refers).
By way of background it was explained that, as
part of the pre-deposit participation and consultation stage in
respect of the LDP, local authorities were required to prepare a
vision, various strategic options, preferred strategy and key
policies. Each of those topics was contained within the Draft
Preferred Strategy document appended to the report and summarised
below:
·
Vision
Cabinet had already resolved to adopt the
Community Strategy vision as the vision for the LDP (Minute No.
C2871).
·
Strategic Options
The Draft Preferred Strategy identified 9 LDP
objectives which related to matters such as the economy, housing,
transport and climate change.
·
The Draft Preferred Strategy
In line with the majority of relevant
stakeholder views, the Draft Preferred Strategy identified Option 5
as the proposed spatial strategy for the emerging LDP. Given
that the majority of the Vale’s population, services and facilities
were concentrated in the South East zone, it was considered that
that option provided greater opportunities for supporting future
sustainable growth and, in addition, it accorded with the Wales
Spatial Plan which identified Barry and St. Athan as areas of
opportunity in the South East Wales region.
·
Key Policies
The Draft Preferred Strategy contained the
following twelve Core Strategic Policies (CSPs): Sustainable
Development; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Housing Need;
Affordable Housing; Planning Obligations; Retailing; Employment;
Minerals; Built and Natural Environment; Strategic Transport
Improvements; and Sustainable Waste Management.
To assist in the delivery of the spatial
strategy, the Draft Preferred Strategy also included a settlement
hierarchy policy which stated that future development would be
guided towards settlements which maximised social and economic
benefits, reduced the need to travel and minimised the loss of
greenfield sites.
·
Key Background Documents
The Council had produced the following key
background documents which supplemented the Draft Preferred
Strategy and the initial SA Report: Population and Housing
Projections Topic Paper; Employment Land Study; Sustainable
Settlements Review; and Spatial Options Background Paper.
To assist the Council in determining the LDP
Draft Preferred Strategy, an independent appraisal of all the above
options had been carried out as part of the SA process. That
report had highlighted that all of the nine options would have
similar effects in terms of the environmental impacts and that the
main differences related to the delivery of social-economic
benefits throughout the Vale of Glamorgan. It was recognised
that it was essential the Draft Preferred Strategy delivered the
benefits where they were most needed. In accordance with the
EC Habitats Directive, the Council had also undertaken a screening
exercise to establish whether the Draft Preferred Strategy was
likely to have a significant effect on European sites of nature
conservation importance. That report had concluded that
likely significant impacts could result and therefore an
Appropriate Assessment (AA) was required. In addition, the
Council had prepared an Initial SA Report which tested the LDP
objectives and core strategic polices contained within the Draft
Preferred Strategy against the sustainability objectives set out in
the LDP SA Approved Scoping Report. It was noted that that
report had been independently checked to ensure that all the
necessary tasks had been carried out and that it met all legal
requirements. A six week public consultation exercise would
commence in January 2008 and, following consultation, those
responses would be discussed with the key stakeholder group and
checked with the responses from the control group. The
Council would then prepare and publish a consultation report
containing all the representations and the Council’s responses,
with all stakeholders made aware of the availability of the
report. When the LDP Strategy had been confirmed, the Council
would commence work on the candidate site assessments to establish
which ones were compatible with it.
Subsequent discussion took place on related
issues, the Head of Planning and Transportation clarifying matters
pertaining to:
·
the adequacy of the proposed housing requirement for the Vale
including the St. Athan development, having particular regard to
the regional approach adopted under the LDP process for housing
provision;
·
the provision of affordable housing, attention being drawn to Core
Strategic Policy (CSP)5 which required a minimum of 30% on sites
capable of accommodating 10 or more dwellings - a considerable
increase over the provision required under the UDP and very much in
line with WAG policy;
·
the need to review current Supplementary Planning Guidance on
Affordable Housing as regards the criteria used to determine
the sum deemed ‘affordable’ given the very varied areas of
the Vale and their varying socio-economic profile;
·
concerns relating to development being concentrated on brownfield
sites where there was already a concentration of population,
thereby potentially increasing demand for the use of greenfield
sites on which to develop rather than allowing those sites to
remain as green lungs within such areas;
·
changing climate conditions and concerns raised relating to
- the effects of
high rise buildings on wind patterns
- the need to
minimise flood risk and maximise flood prevention
- how to
encourage all development proposals to, for example, address
climate change by reducing energy demand through the design of more
energy and resource efficient buildings or by utilising sustainable
energy technologies;
·
the need to address the matter of additional burial sites being
found, it being reported that a burial site assessment had, in
fact, recently commenced.
The Head of Planning and Transportation stated
that the above matters would each be more particularly dealt with
later in the process, with detailed policies and site specific
issues being considered at the appropriate time after the
consultation period and as required. As regards
sustainability for example, he stressed that there was far greater
emphasis in the LDP in relation to such matters than the current
UDP, the LDP having to address and sit comfortably alongside
national policy in that and other respects. It was
anticipated that WAG would keep a watching brief on the emerging
LDP offering advice and assistance were it considered that the LDP
was veering away from the recommended approach. It was
important to be aware that the Inspector could, if dissatisfied
with the Council’s proposals, change those proposals and,
therefore, to develop an LDP which, whilst focusing on local needs,
would also accord with the known requirements of WAG.
Following further consideration of the above
and related matters, it was
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T all staff involved in the production of the Draft Preferred
Strategy and Initial Sustainability Appraisal Report be thanked for
their efforts to date and that the Head of Planning and
Transportation be commended on the clarity of both his presentation
and response to subsequent questions.
(1) T H A
T the decisions of Cabinet as contained in Minute No. C3321 be
endorsed.