A presentation will be made on the work being carried out, as part of the overall Council Strategy for the period 2016 - 2025, in relation to two of the Teignbridge Ten super-projects. These are ten connected areas of work, which will each have a widespread impact on the economy, community wellbeing, and the environment.
Amanda Pujol and Nick Davies will present the work of two of the programmes: A Roof Over our Heads and Great Places to Live and Work.
Minutes:
Two presentations were made on the work being carried out, as part of the overall Council Strategy for the period 2016 - 2025, in relation to two of the Teignbridge Ten super-projects. These are ten connected areas of work, which will each have a widespread impact on the economy, community wellbeing, and the environment.
Amanda Pujol - Interim Head of Service Delivery and Improvement (IHSD&I)
A Roof Over our Heads
The IHSD&I advised that the T10 projects, agenda page 62 refers, have commenced, progress is on track, and updated Members as follows:
·
Make sure plans take full account
of all housing needs
As part of
the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP), East Devon, Exeter, Mid
Devon, Teignbridge and Devon County Council will update the
strategic housing market assessment (SHMA) in 2018. The updated
SHMA will use the new Government housing targets aggregated across
the GESP area.
The Plan Teignbridge, Local Plan Review 2020/40 is out to
consultation from 21st May to 16th July 2018.
·
Deliver affordable
housing
Delivery
of affordable homes is well ahead of target as more properties were
completed in the first quarter of the year and the net new
additional homes has been boosted by late completion of properties
previously unreported. Since the Local plan was adopted
the target affordable homes delivery is 686 units. Teignbridge has
delivered 902 properties targets have been met of 70% rented and
30% intermediate. 181 of those have been in rural areas with 46 on
exception sites. 7.5% of properties delivered in that period have
been fully wheelchair accessible.
·
Evaluate options for delivering
affordable rented housing
In relation to
Council land in Newton Abbot, Kenn, Ideford and Chudleigh. Two
sites have received positive pre application advice. A scheme at
Haldon Ridge for three pitches is under construction with
completion in October 2018.
A scheme for acquisition of land in Bovey Tracey to deliver 4 custom build affordable homes has been approved by the Capital Review Board. A planning application is pending approval and a Portfolio Holder decision for land acquisition is being drafted for signature.
·
Improve housing conditions and
reduce empty homes
There are
a number of indicators well ahead of target including the
number of dwellings improved by the Council following successful
uptake of our Ecoflex scheme and intervention by the Private sector
housing team, resulting in improvements being made to private
rented properties.
The Property Rating scheme (PARs) is formally being launched on 19th September 2018.15 applications
Whilst the number of empty properties is recorded as a concern, the target is based on the figure reported to government in October 2018 which is used to calculate new homes bonus payments. Work will be ongoing between now and October 2018 to reduce the figure and meet the target and as at last week figure is 432 .Target is maximum 363.
·
Prevent homelessness wherever
possible
A change
to the homeless legislation and the criteria for recording homeless
prevention statistics has resulted in the Council being unable to
record homeless prevention outcomes previously recorded in 2018/19
and, as a result, these indicators are showing as a concern. We are
seeking clarification from the Ministry of Housing which will
hopefully enable us to count more cases going forward however,
if this is not forthcoming, we may need to review the
target as this was based on the previous definition and
legislation.
Nick Davies - Business Manager, Strategic Place (BMSP)
Great Places to Live and Work
The BMSP advised that the T10 projects, agenda page 74 refers, have commenced and progress is on track.
Teignbridge is a great place to live and work and the responsibility is to ensure that it stays that way for existing and future residents. The Great Places to Live and Work (GPTLAW) project aims to protect the things that make Teignbridge special and ensure that new development is of high quality design and is supported by the necessary jobs, infrastructure and facilities to support community life.
The Local Plan is up to date and allocates sufficient housing land to meet Teignbridge’s needs up to 2033. One of the main elements of the project is the adoption of a residential design guide (RDG) to ensure that this housing development is of high quality design and layout. The content of the RDG has been approved by Executive and the final document is nearing completion and adoption. The success of the RDG will be monitored by performance indicators that measure the quality of residential development, both objectively and subjectively. As well as being well-designed the project will ensure that neighbourhoods are real communities with all the facilities required by residents. This will be achieved by adopting Framework Plans for the large allocations in the Local Plan, and monitored by:
o Surveying the % of residents who feel they belong to their neighbourhood.
o Measuring residents’ satisfaction with open spaces.
o Reporting the amount of employment floorspace provided.
The project will also ensure the protection of Teignbridge’s most important landscapes and built heritage through:
· A landscape policy on renewable energy proposals which was adopted by the Executive in July 2018.
· Making sure Conservation Area policies are up to date.
· Working with towns and parishes to identify and protect locally important buildings.
Teignbridge is not only a great place for people to live, it is also home to a wealth of important wildlife. The GPTLAW project protects this biodiversity by:
· Adopting policies to protect cirl buntings and greater horseshoe bats.
· Implementing projects to protect the Exe Estuary and Dawlish Warren.
· Providing areas of SANGS. The Dawlish Countryside Park has been a notable success.
The project also recognises that walkable places with good public transport and cycling facilities are healthier to live in and also bring climate change benefits. The project therefore supports improvements to walking, cycling and public transport and this will be monitored by:
· Reporting on the no. of km of new cycle routes provided.
· Measuring CO2 emissions in Teignbridge.
The project is a cross-cutting one, requiring significant input from multi Council departments, and external partners including Natural England, Devon County Council and neighbouring Local Authorities.
The Project is very closely aligned to the Council’s Vision “Making Teignbridge a healthy and desirable place, where people want to live, work and visit” and so is of crucial importance to the overall Council Strategy.
The Business Manager referred Councillors to Page 76 of the agenda which stated that one of the projects under GPTLAW has a “Caution” status. The Supplementary Planning Document for the Wolborough Development has had to be revised and is therefore not at the stage envisaged at this time. It is progressing and the revised timetable indicates completion before the end of the year.
The Business Manager referred to the 2017/18 end of year figures as follows:
· Satisfaction with new development in your area – Target 82.5% - Actual 66.1%
Lower than previous years and this was discussed by Members of this Committee in July. A Members Tour would be scheduled to look at the sites that were surveyed to see if there are any lessons to be learnt.
· % "greens" achieved for approved housing developments as measured by Building for Life 12 criteria – Target 83.0% - Actual 91.7%
This is measured against industry standards for good Urban Design. More recent approvals are performing well. This could translated into higher public satisfaction when the permissions are built out.
The project also measures how well Teignbridge is building communities and, encouragingly, the annual survey of residents in new developments showed that 73% of residents in new developments feel they belong to their neighbourhood.
The Business manager added that since the project started:
· 9.9 km of new cycle routes have been provided by working with our partners.
· 5,294 Sqm of employment space has been completed.
· £778,830 of Section 106 funds have been secured for biodiversity projects.
The Chairman and Members thanked the officers for their presentations.
In response to questions the IHSD&I advised that blocks of affordable housing in new developments are not sold to local authorities elsewhere in the Country. Affordable housing was safeguarded by policies in the Local Plan to people with a local connection, and were allocated through Devon Home Choice. Surveys showed that 80% of affordable house residents had a previous address with a local postcode.