Agenda item

Local Plan Review – 5 Year Position Statement

Decision:

RESOLVED that the conclusions of the Five Year Review of the Teignbridge Local Plan attached to this report be approved.

 

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Planning presented the Five Year Position Statement on the Teignbridge Local Plan 2013-2033. He commented that the housing needs calculations were dictated by a government formula based on affordability which did little to address the needs of those least able to afford to rent or buy a home of their own. The main implications of the review were that the Council would need to update the Local Plan, due to the nationally set formula known as the ‘standard method’, having to be adopted. This would increase the number of houses to be built per year from 620 to 760 units – a rise of 23%. In other words some 700 or so additional houses in the District over the next five years.

 

The Leader had written to the previous and new Prime Minister (PM) asking for a more appropriate method to calculate housing need in the Teignbridge Local Plan. It was important that housing being built provided social housing and genuinely affordable housing, promoted development on brownfield sites, redeveloped redundant buildings and brought forward smaller sites.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning advised of a change to 5.1 - Time-scale - to read ‘The Government’s Housing Need figure of 760 and any subsequent calculation of housing need, will be applied to 5 year housing land supply calculations and Housing Delivery Test from that date’

 

Non-Executive Members raised issues regarding the 300,000 homes that the Country required to meet demand; how the windfall sites figures were calculated; need to be forward thinking in development to address the climate change emergency and that the Council should not sign off the housing numbers unconditionally.

 

The Business Manager - Spatial Planning clarified that the variation in the windfall figures in the first year of the five year period was because they took into account projected windfall completions that had already had planning permission or otherwise counted in the supply. These sites tended to come forward quicker as the infrastructure was usually in place.  The Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) would take a wider view of the housing target for the area as a whole although Government expected Councils to meet the required number.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change Emergency and Housing commented that the district had constraints with its landscape and coast line and that these should be taken into consideration when housing numbers were calculated. Policies would be brought forward to support the building of carbon neutral homes.

 

The Leader read out the response he had received from Central Government to his initial letter.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Sport, Recreation & Culture commented that consultation had taken place, with the legal advice that was taken when the five year plan was compiled and now the communication with the PM’s, with one positive response received.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning proposed the recommendation, this was seconded by the Portfolio Holder for Sport, Recreation & Culture.

 

RESOLVED that the conclusions of the Five Year Review of the Teignbridge Local Plan attached to this report be approved.

 

Supporting documents: