Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 November 2023 (Minute Nos. 428 - 434) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 November 2023 (Minute Nos. 428 – 434) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Planning Enforcement Team Leader introduced the report as set-out in the agenda papers.

The Chair invited questions and comments from Members on the draft Enforcement Local Plan 2024 – 27, and the following points were raised:

·         Welcomed the Enforcement Local Plan, but concerned that sometimes planning enforcement did not respond quickly enough and referred to listed buildings in the Milton Regis ward and considered the damage to them could have been stopped earlier if planning enforcement had responded sooner;

·         referred to Appendix 2, Planning Enforcement Priorities, on page 25 of the report, and asked whether unauthorised development within Conservation Areas (CAs) could be moved to a higher priority category, or even have its own priority category?;

·         where did no permanent harm fit within enforcement?;

·         the plan was easy to read;

·         welcomed the plan but the definition of what was a ‘minor’ breach of planning varied from person-to-person;

·         the search facility on the planning portal needed to be checked.  It was currently difficult to search for specific sites if you did not know the correct address.  A map search facility would be better;

·         would the Leaders Foreword be included before the consultation?  The Planning Enforcement Team Leader confirmed this would be included before the document went ‘live’.;

·         had an equalities impact been undertaken and how was the gypsy and traveller community consulted?;

·         should include within the foreword the scale of the challenge within the document to help manage expectations;

·         suggested it be called the Enforcement ‘Strategy’ rather than Enforcement ‘Local Plan’ to avoid any confusion with the Council’s Local Plan;

·         referred to paragraph 3.3 on page 16 of the plan, and surprised that conversion of garages was not considered a breach;

·         referred to paragraph 3.4 on page 16 of the report and asked whether the council could use the what3words system on the Council’s website?;

·         referred to paragraph 4.1 on page 17 of the report, and considered that for Tree Preservation Orders and Listed Buildings, visiting the site within two working days was too long a time period.  The Planning Enforcement Team Leader confirmed that it should say same day visit.;

·         referred to paragraph 4.1 and reference to bringing third parties onto land, would the Council use CCTV or bodycams?.  If so that should be included within the plan.  The Planning Enforcement Team Leader confirmed that they did not use CCTV or bodycams;

·         referred to paragraph 5.1 on page 20 of the report, and considered asking complainants for a 30 day log for suspected Change of Use (COU) was “a bit much”, and it needed to be clear what they were expected to log;

·         needed to be clearer on what ‘adjacent to highway’ included;

·         referred to appendix 2 of the report and Visit Response times and queried if it should say ‘working days’ rather than just ‘days’?; The Planning Enforcement Team Leader confirmed it was working days and agreed to update the table; and

·         a mechanism was needed for residents to highlight any serious breaches that might occur at weekends.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 577.

The Chair reminded the Working Group that in September 2023 they had recommended to the Policy and Resources Committee to defer a decision as to a timescale for the future stages of the Local Plan Review until the national planning landscape was clearer.  The Chair asked that following the publication of the revised NPPF, was it the Working Group’s view that the national planning landscape was clearer, and it was right for officers to develop a timescale for the Local Plan review to be brought to the Working Group at the first opportunity?  Members agreed that it was. 

Recommended: 

(1)      That following the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework on 19 December 2023, it was the Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group’s (PTPWG) view that the national planning landscape was now clearer, and it was right for officers to develop a timescale for the Local Plan review to be brought to the PTPWG at the first opportunity.