The Project Manager (Policy) introduced the report which highlighted the additional recommendations from the Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group (PTPWG) held on 13 November 2024 in response to its consideration of the Housing Targets Exceptional Circumstances Study (Appendix IV).

The Chair invited Members to make comments, which included:

·      The report ignored the exceptions report considered by the PTPWG;

·      the summary at paragraph 2.5 of the report, did not cover the full discussion that took place at the PTPWG;

·      the exceptions report indicated that more work was needed to establish a robust evidence case;

·      to make a robust evidence case extra evidence work was needed;

·      paragraph 5.42 of the report, suggested extra work was needed with regards to transport;

·      there were serious issues in the borough with transport and this would only become worse with the proposed developments;

·      the unsustainable commuting report still needed to be undertaken;

·      we needed to gather as much evidence as possible to show that the Council were unable to meet the housing target requirements set by Central Government;

·      the Council were behind on their five-year housing land supply targets because developers such as Homes England were well behind on delivering the homes that they had promised; and

·      a lot of taxpayers money had gone into sites that had not been bought forward and the Government should be doing more to push those sites forward.

The Head of Place clarified with Members that the report recommendations were those of the PTPWG, with officer analysis within the body of the report.

The Vice-Chair moved recommendations (1), (2), (4), (5) and (6) of the report, and for recommendation (2) to be amended as follows: That the Vice-Chair to be consulted as well as the Chairs of the Committees. This was seconded by Councillor Monique Bonney.

Members made comments on the motion, which included:

·      It was not appropriate to agree recommendation three (3) yet because the Highsted Park Inquiry could have a big effect on the transport modelling if approved;

·      Members needed to consider whether there was enough money in the budget to carry out all the extra work needed to complete the ‘perfect local plan’;

·      to ensure all decisions were made fairly, representatives from each political party should be consulted, not just the relevant Chair and Vice-Chair; and

·      consulting with all parties would slow down the process of decision making.

Recommended:

(1)          That Council considers the Local Plan housing target, as set out in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 of the PTPWG report on Housing Historic Delivery and Local Plan Review Housing Targets, including the 5% buffer for consultation and examination resilience, and along with the extra 336 dwellings set out in the current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation be taken forward for consultation in the Local Plan Review Regulation 18.

(2)          That Council considers the proposed growth within the draft Plan Regulation 18 consultation of 8,326 dwellings, including the review of the remaining Local Plan Bearing Fruits (1,703 dwellings), as well as the balance of housing need (6,287 dwellings), and additional units to allow for the proposed new NPPF housing target (336 dwellings) to be taken forward for consultation in the Local Plan Review Regulation 18, and delegation be given to the Head of Place to amend figures, in consultation with the Committee Chair and Vice-Chair, solely in line with additional planning permissions granted, new dwellings completed and any evidence which concludes previously granted or allocated sites were no longer deliverable.

(3)          That the funding needed for the additional sustainability work, in advance of the Regulation 18 draft Plan consultation, namely research into unsustainable commuting patterns, be supported and agreed.

(4)          That delegated authority be given to officers, in consultation with the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Policy and Resources Committee and Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group, to update the Local Development Scheme to accommodate the additional work, and recommend the Local Development Scheme to Full Council in December 2024.

(5)          That the Vision, Objectives and Growth Options paper be deferred at the next Full Council meeting in December 2024, to allow further evidence to be gathered prior to a recommendation being made.