The Principal Planning Consultant introduced the report which set out the call for sites 2024 process and provided a high level summary of the progress being made on drafting the Council’s Housing Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA).

The Chair invited comments from Members, and points raised included:

·         Concerned that the ‘dividend’ of submissions was so low;

·         could see how the Classic Cinema, High Street, Sittingbourne could be used as a mixed use, but it was important to ensure the façade was kept largely intact;

·         Sutton House, London Road, Sittingbourne was a ‘beautiful’ building and supported it being renovated and used as flats;

·         the Council should ensure that the heritage buildings within the Sittingbourne High Street Conservation Area were improved, and the owners considered whether they wanted to convert the upper floors into flats to make them viable;

·         what would be the impact of the low submissions on the rest of the housing numbers?;

·         500 park homes would be great but this could lead to infrastructure issues;

·         would the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) need to be updated given that the minimum 850 dwellings stated within the SPD would not be achieved?;

·         the current poor economic situation was affecting confidence in the construction industry and Members needed to understand this;

·         disappointed with the lack of interest shown in respect of Sittingbourne High Street;

·         had Park Home sites on the Isle of Sheppey been consulted?;

·         how many units could the Royal Cinema, Sittingbourne site accommodate?;

·         Phoenix House and Sports Direct in Sittingbourne High Street could be potential sites;

·         if brownfield employment sites were used for housing, would the Council need to provide more employment sites to replace the loss of that brownfield site?; and

·         the appearance of Sittingbourne high street seemed to be failing and it seemed Members were powerless to do anything about it.

In response, the Principal Planning Policy Consultant said that officers had assumed for Sittingbourne High Street a 70% residential and 30% retail split and that some of the figures provided in the report could be ‘conservative’.  The Royal Cinema site could potentially provide between 50 and 60 units.  The Planning Manager (Policy) reported that the final call for sites and final assessment and options would be considered at the next meeting of the Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group (PTPWG).  The Head of Place said that officers were currently looking at densification and sites with headline transport constraints, as also requested by Members, and the results would be considered at the next PTPWG meeting.

With regard to park home sites, the Principal Planning Consultant said further assessment work was needed to establish what the demand was within the borough, and the Planning Manager (Policy) said a specific question in that regard could be added to the Regulation 18 Consultation, and confirmed officers would look into including the topic of demand for Park Homes in the Stratic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).  The Planning Manager (Policy) confirmed that officers had written to a lot of the existing park home providers and to national providers and agreed to forward the list to Members.  She explained that a balance was needed to ensure new park home provision on existing caravan parks would not negatively impact tourist accommodation provision on the Isle of Sheppey.

The Planning Manager (Policy) reported that some of the sites put forward within the SPD, such as the Rainbow Homes site, were currently not viable.  However, officers would not be re-writing the SPD, but would update the relevant Policy within the Local Plan, and highlight any risks regarding densities.  The Planning Manager (Policy) clarified that if employment sites allocated for housing were in the Council’s Local Plan, the loss of employment would be accounted for.  If they were not allocated then that loss of employment would need to be replaced elsewhere in the borough. 

The Planning Manager (Policy) asked that if Members were aware of any additional sites available they informed officers by Friday 21 March 2025.  She reminded Members that sites could still come forward as planning applications or windfall sites. 

Recommended:

(1)      That the update report on the Call for Sites 2024 and the progress being made on the Housing Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) be noted.