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No interests were declared.

The Planning Manager (Policy) introduced the report which set out the background to the recommendations made by the Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group (PTPWG) during its meeting on 4 November 2025 with regard to the Local Plan Regulation 18 (Reg 18) document and the draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report Update.  She highlighted the different sections of the report and appendices and said the consultation would run for six weeks, from 12 January 2026 until 23 February 2026.

The Chair and members of the Committee thanked and praised all officers, both past and present, on the work they had completed so far on the Local Plan Review.

The Chair invited Members to make comments and these included:

·       Acknowledged that the five substantially updated climate change related policies were draft and were not Council policy until the Local Plan was adopted;

·       suggested there be some policy wording about the preservation of the borough’s considered chalk streams to tie in with the work that the Southeast Rivers Trust had been undertaking;

·       needed a policy on groundwater source protection zones;

·       the policy wording about Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGS) was not to be included until the Regulation 19 (Reg 19) stage, but suggested this needed to be tested before that;

·       suggested solar farms should not be built on best and most versatile agricultural land (BMV) and this should be set out in policy; and

·       by insisting on using the term ‘settlement hierarchy’ with regard to rural exceptions sites, considered this went against the whole point of exception sites.  If remote areas come forward, having ‘settlement hierarchy’ there complicated matters and sent out the wrong message, suggested the phrase be removed

In response, the Planning  Manager confirmed that the five substantially updated climate change policies were in draft form, it was a draft Plan, and this was the first stage of the Local Plan process.  Following the consultation, everything would be looked at again at the Reg 19 stage, and any changes taken on board from the consultation would be added to the Reg 19.  With regard to SANGS, this would be addressed at the Reg 19 stage as it was a strategic policy, and there were no strategic policies within the Reg 18, so it could not be brought forward at this stage.  In terms of no solar farms on BMV, officers did not currently have the evidence to support a policy on that.

The Principal Planning Officer referred to chalk streams and groundwater source protection zones and said that groundwater source protection zones were referenced already in the policies, but chalk streams were not.

Councillor Mike Baldock moved the following amendment:  That chalk streams be included, along with groundwater source protection zones, within the early part of Policy C10, and also wording to ensure chalk streams were not subject to inappropriate development, with appropriate wording to be agreed by officers, in consultation with Councillor Baldock.  This was seconded by Councillor Elliott Jayes and on being put to the vote was agreed.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 465.