Further to Minute No. 150 of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 22 February 2012, the Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment which provided a full summary of the consultation which took place on the Options Stage of the Core Strategy, the representations made to the Council during that consultation and the Council’s proposed response.
A discussion took place on the concerns raised by members of the public regarding the possible future use of high grade agricultural land within the Borough for development purposes. There was a need to identify other local authorities within the North West and nationally who had similar issues and concerns on this issue in order that a network of such authorities could be formed for the purpose of lobbying the Government on the importance of the agricultural land resource in the planning system.
The Head of Planning Services reported on the proposals for the formation of a Member Steering Group to examine issues relating to the Core Strategy and Cabinet Members requested that the Parish Councils within the Borough be represented on the Steering Group. The Chair indicated that update reports on employment, land and premises issues, the Council’s housing requirements and agricultural land issues would be submitted to the Cabinet in the near future.
This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.
RESOLVED: That
(1) thanks be expressed to the Members of the Public who had responded to the consultation exercise on the Options Stage of the Core Strategy and Officers be thanked for the work undertaken in the production of the report;
(2) the Report of Consultation following the Options Stage of the Core Strategy be accepted and the proposed programme of work as set out in Section 12 of the report be approved; and
(3) the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT be authorised to consider the use of one-off resources, towards the costs of the work programme, subject to availability and consideration of the Council’s outturn position for 2011/12.
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.