Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Forde House, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4XX

Items
No. Item

51.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 75 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2019.

 

Minutes:

Minutes of the meeting on 1 July 2019 were confirmed and approved and signed as correct record.  

52.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Councillor Taylor declared an interest in respect of Minutes no.56 (South Hams Greater Horseshoe Bat SAC – HRA) as a Member of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

 

53.

Public Questions pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Members of the Public may ask questions of the Leader or a Portfolio Holder. A maximum period of 15 minutes will be allowed with a maximum of period of three minutes per questioner.

 

The deadline for questions is no later than 12 noon two working days before the date of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Questions and Reponses attached to minutes.

 

54.

Armed Forces Covenant pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED that a Teignbridge Armed Forces Protocol and action plan be developed.

 

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Communities & IT in introducing the report stated that the Armed Forces did a tremendous job, across a range of diverse duties, all over the world and at home. The Teignbridge Armed Forces Covenant would support all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces and their families and ensure that they are treated fairly. The action plan would support the delivery of the covenant across the authority. The Council had appointed the Chairman of the Council, Councillor Keeling as the Armed Forces Member Champion.

 

The Chairman of the Council, in his capacity as the Armed Forces Member Champion, commented that the Council had started to put together an action plan and already identified the need for a dedicated Armed Forces web page. Devon Homes Choice had 3.98% (39 out of 979 on register) of veterans on its register and 2.04% (19 out of 930 cases) of homeless applications were from veterans.

 

The Interim Head of Service Delivery and Improvement advised that an action plan would be brought to the September meeting.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Communities & IT proposed the recommendation, this was seconded by the Leader.

 

RESOLVED that a Teignbridge Armed Forces Protocol and action plan be developed.

 

55.

Local Plan Review – 5 Year Position Statement pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Additional documents:

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

56.

South Hams Greater Horseshoe Bat SAC – HRA pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that the:-

 

(1)          South Hams Special Area of Conservation Habitats Regulations Assessment Guidance be approved with any other minor amendments of detail being delegated to the Business Manager Strategic Place in consultation with the Planning Portfolio Holder; and

 

(2)          Consultation Summary outlining comments to the consultation process be noted.

 

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Planning (Councillor Taylor) declared an interest as a Member of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). He did not take part in the discussion or vote.

 

Prior notification - Member questions and responses attached to minutes.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning presented the report to consider the South Hams Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Habitats Regulations Assessment Guidance. This was important guidance to protect the greater horseshoe bats, one of Britain’s rarest bats of which about 30% of the population was found in South Devon.

 

The Senior Planning Officer advised that the South Hams SAC guidance had been prepared jointly by the five authorities in partnership with Natural England and once approved would become planning guidance supporting the Councils planning policies E9 and E10.

 

Non-Executive Members raised concerns regarding the lack of advice notes; Abbotskerswell Parish Council and Wolborough Residents’ Association were not satisfied that the advice notes were not included with this guidance; the Landscape Connectivity Zone was inadequately protected; and only Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) criteria being considered as important was not acceptable.

 

The Principal Policy Planner clarified that the guidance was a standalone document and would support the submission of a Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) to ensure that there was connectivity across the wider landscape.

 

The Senior Planning Officer stated that the steering group would be discussing the advice notes at its next meeting and that events were on-going across the area to raise awareness of the guidance. Abbotskerswell Parish Council & Wolborough Residents’ Association would be advised on the advice notes progress.

 

The County Ecologist (Devon County Council) clarified that advice notes were not required and the guidance was a standalone document. Development that would impact on the undesignated roosts in the Landscape Connectivity Zone would require a HRA. The connectivity zone was a new area, much wider than the existing narrowly defined “strategic flyways” which would improve the council’s ability to ensure that major developments protected the bat’s habitats.

 

The Senior Planning Officer advised that he had received concerns from developers re the tightening of the regulations. In response to comments from Abbotskerswell Parish Council & Wolborough Residents’ Association the following amendments to the guidance had been agreed by Executive:-

 

In Section 1 Introduction, para 1.2.6, amend wording to:

 

Links to, or summaries of, best practice information on technical issues such as lighting will be added to the DCC website where the Steering Group agree that this will be helpful. Note however that this HRA guidance is a stand-alone resource which is not reliant on this information’

 

In Section 3 Flow chart, para 3.1.2, Note b, amend wording to:

 

‘It may be possible for the LPA to screen out likely significant effects relatively quickly where it is considered that, due to factors such as location, site characteristics, size/type of the application, the proposal will not have a likely significant effect on the SAC greater horseshoe bat population.’

 

The Portfolio Holder for Communities & IT proposed the recommendation, this was seconded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

57.

Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 72 KB

To note forthcoming decisions anticipated to be made by the Executive over the next 12 months.

Decision:

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be noted.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be noted.