Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Committee was tasked to elect its Chairman for the coming year in its first meeting.

It was,

Resolved

To elect Cllr Jon Hubbard as Chairman of the Environment Select Committee for the year 2012-13.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Committee was tasked to appoint its Vice-Chairman for the coming year in its first meeting.

It was,

Resolved:

To elect Cllr Alan Hill as Vice-Chairman of the Environment Select Committee for the year 2012-13.

The Committee noted the membership of the Environment Select Committee as appointed at the full Council meeting on 15 May 2012, as printed with the agenda.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Nigel Carter and Tom James.

To receive any declarations of personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above no later than 5pm on 31 May 2012. Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Committee noted the rules on public participation.

The Committee noted the Terms of Reference under the new Overview and Scrutiny arrangements as agreed at full Council on 15 May 2012.

The Committee discussed the Future Work Programme of the predecessor committee under the previous Overview and Scrutiny arrangements, and made several comments regarding how to determine items to recommend for the new Committee’s Forward Plan, to be agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Select Committee.

It was,

Resolved:

To delegate authority to the Chair and Vice-Chair to determine legacy items to be recommended to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Select Committee for approval, to be circulated to members after the meeting.

Representatives from all political groups from Environment Select would be invited to assist the Chair and Vice-Chair.

To scrutinize the draft Wiltshire Core Strategy ahead of adoption by full Council.

A report is attached with a schedule of changes along with responses to consultation and key issues.

Hard copies of the Core Strategy will be available on request, or can be found online using the link below:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/wiltshirecorestrategy.htm

Public Participation

Dr Nick Murray spoke regarding the Core Strategy.

Mr Andrew Birch spoke regarding the Core Strategy.

Mrs Jenny Raggett submitted a statement regarding the Core Strategy.

Mr T Boxall, South Wiltshire Association of Council Taxpayers, submitted a statement regarding the Core Strategy.

The Wiltshire Core Strategy has been in development since early 2009, taking forward the work started by the former district councils. It was presented to the Environment Select Committee in January 2012, and then approved for further consultation by Council in February 2012, without receiving endorsement from the Environment Select Committee.

Following the consultation, a number of minor changes are proposed to the Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission Document (draft Core Strategy). Once approved they will be submitted to the Secretary of State alongside the draft Core Strategy. 

The Environment Select Committee was asked to consider and scrutinize the draft Core Strategy, and to make recommendations and comments to Cabinet ahead of Council on 26 June 2012.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Strategic Planning, Cllr de Rhé-Phillipe, was in attendance along with Alistair Cunningham, Service Director (Economy and Regeneration), and Georgina Clampitt-dix, Head of Place Shaping. They presented a report outlining the last consultation, summaries of the extent and type of comments received, and appendices listing examples of comments as well as proposed changes to the draft Core Strategy.

The Committee was then addressed by members of the public as detailed above.

A discussion followed, in which the Committee discussed various aspects of the final consultation and the draft Core Strategy, making comments including the following:

·         Clarity on the Community Infrastructure Levy was requested, and it was explained that the Council was awaiting publication of regulations from Central Government.

·         Air Quality in particular locations was discussed. Core Policy 55 of the draft Core Strategy refers to the Air Quality Strategy giving it policy status and the need for decisions on development to take this into account., Recognition of the importance of  other strategies has been made during the production of the draft Core Strategy.

·         The amount of Member involvement was raised, and it was clarified that Members had been involved throughout the process including through signing off the consultation documents, with the last stage approved by Council. In addition, all Area Boards had received presentations on the emerging Core Strategy during the course of its preparation.

·         The Committee then raised that in the appendix summarising the consultation document, representations from Members had not all been included, and it was firmly recommended that it would be appropriate and preferred to do so.  In response it was stated that more detailed consultation responses were available on line.

·         Clarity on renewable energy policies, such as wind farm separation distance, was raised.

·         Core Policy 47, ‘Meeting the needs of Gypsies and Travellers’, was raised as regards public perception of specialized treatment securing sites in the countryside, which was clarified as a governmental direction.

·         The use of artificial administrative boundaries such as the Trowbridge Community Area  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

To agree the date of the next meeting.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 30 August 2012.