Winchester City Borough Council Local Plan Advisory Group Meeting

Apologies were noted as above.

None

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 13 December 2021 be approved and adopted.

Councillor Horrill sought clarification regarding an agenda item on the minutes of the meeting of 27 September 2021 concerning the analysis of the comments that had been submitted on the local plan vision/growth strategy. The Chairperson asked Councillor Horrill to email him with the details and he would endeavour to respond.

Councillor Jon Woodman, Chair, Swanmore Parish Council and Chair, Winchester District Association of Local Councils addressed the meeting. He advised that several parish councils had expressed concern over the Local Plan (LP) timescales, the hierarchy settlement table and infilling. The Strategic Planning Manager responded to the points raised and clarified the query over timescales, he also informed that following an analysis of comments received regarding the settlement hierarchy that this would be updated. Officers were engaged with parish councils and several meetings had taken place recently with more being planned.

Councillor Horrill sought clarification regarding the process being adopted for upcoming meetings with parish councils, particularly regarding the pre-election period and the timescales for feedback from parish councils on SHELAA sites. The Corporate Head of Regulatory responded to these questions.

The Principal Planning Officer and Planning Officer provided the advisory group with a presentation, (available here) which had previously been circulated to members regarding the drafting of a new local plan. The presentation included guidance from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Advisory Service (PAS), feedback from the strategic issues and priorities consultation, priorities from the council plan and the next steps to be taken.

Members made comments and asked several questions concerning the presentation which included the following:

• Regarding the NPPF requirement for “deliverability”, how would  “deliverability” be quantified?
• At what stage would the monitoring programme be produced and available?

These questions were responded to by officers and the Chairperson accordingly.

RESOLVED:  

1.    That the presentation and update be noted  

2.    That officers consider the points made by members 

The Principal Planning Officer provided the advisory group with a presentation, (available here) which had previously been circulated to members regarding the new draft vision and objectives for the local plan. The draft had taken on board best practice, the current vision in the adopted local plan, the council plan and comments that had been received from the strategic issues and priorities consultation. 

Members made comments and asked several questions concerning the presentation which included the following:

• Clarification to the meaning of the statement on page 21 “and respond to the wider relationship with neighbouring authorities.”
• Should Whiteley be more explicitly referenced as part of the three spatial areas referred to on page 21
• Within the “vibrant local economy” objectives, should more emphasis be placed on the agriculture sector, especially food and drink and also with digital requirements
• How do we make it clear and understood which policies would implement specific elements of the vision?
• By how much could the emerging vision influence the level and distribution of development?
• The likely date for availability of the settlement policies
• Whether the housing allocation included any estimate for Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) requirements?

These questions were responded to by officers and the Chairperson accordingly.

RESOLVED:  

1.    That the presentation and update be noted

2.    That officers consider the points made by members 

The Strategic Planning Manager provided the advisory group with a presentation, (available here) which had previously been circulated to members. The presentation advised that the city council had appointed Design South East to facilitate several design workshops which were attended by local people, local organisations, councillors, consultants and developers during October and November 2021. The presentation displayed the outputs from these three workshops. 

Members made comments and asked several questions concerning the presentation which included the following:

• The importance of integrating and promoting good design within our policies with particular reference made to Village Design Statements (VDS)
• The importance of encouraging parish councils to adopt the design codes

These questions were responded to by officers and the Chairperson accordingly.

RESOLVED:  

1.    That the presentation and update be noted

2.    That officers consider the points made by members