Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were received:

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2012 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Planning Services

Further to Minute No. 97 of the meeting held on 16 November 2011, the Committee considered the report of the Director of Built Environment dealing with the responses to consultation following the Options stage of the Core Strategy, and setting out the proposed future stages.

The Head of Planning Service gave a brief presentation on the Report of Consultation that highlighted: Representations with an outline of the facts and figures; key challenges for the Core Strategy; concerns about green belt / greenspace sites; statutory consultees and other responses; the changing context; and the way forward.

Members raised a number of queries and made comments relating to: representations made to the government in relation to the issue of empty homes; methods of consultation and whether social media such as ‘Twitter’ and / or ‘Facebook’ could be used for future consultation; the implications of the Localism Act 2011; developers ‘land-banking’ and in some instances deliberately degrading high quality agricultural land; the development/planning rights and responsibilities of the Liverpool Freeport and their priorities for further development; concerns over whether further studies could be funded; the Council’s empty homes strategy and its cost; the risk of flooding across the borough and the associated difficulties with obtaining household insurance; whether the Committee should hold meetings at venues other than Southport and Bootle Town Halls to better engage with the community.

The Committee concluded by congratulating Officers on the thoroughness, detail and overall high quality of the report.  Members welcomed the opportunity to have more detailed information in advance of selecting a Preferred Option.

RESOLVED: That

(1)      the detailed Report of Consultation, following the Options Stage of the Core Strategy, be noted;

(2)      the representations and comments in the Late Representations document be noted;

(3)      the Committee’s appreciation and thanks be conveyed to Officers for producing a report of such high quality;

(4)      the Report of Consultation be amended to clarify that the UDP Inspector’s comment, quoted by a representor in support of development of land  west of Maghull, does not refer to the whole of parcel S112, as identified in the draft Green Belt study, but to a small site within this parcel;

(5)      the Cabinet be requested to accept the Report of Consultation;

(6)      the proposals for further studies to be carried out which should be taken into account in agreeing a Preferred Option for the Core Strategy be noted; and

(7)      the Cabinet be recommended to agree to the programme of work as set out in section 12 of the report.