Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Representative for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services, will give a brief overview of that area of responsibility and respond to the following questions from the Area Board. The Chairman will also invite questions from the public.
(Note: Written questions may be submitted in advance – please email to james.hazlewood@wiltshire.gov.uk by Wednesday 31 August)
· The Kennet District Plan runs out in 2011, what happens then in terms of the local plan, prior to the Wiltshire Core Strategy coming into effect?
· Could the life of the Kennet Plan be extended?
· How can Parish Councils get more involved in developing future planning?
· Can Parish Councils receive automatic alerts at each stage of the planning process?
Minutes:
Councillor Toby Sturgis spoke briefly about his portfolio which included Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services.
Following the merger of the former county council, and the district councils, Wiltshire Council was seeking to reduce its number of offices down to around 4 main hubs. This would not only reduce costs, but would also cut carbon emissions, and create opportunities to invest to save energy.
In terms of Development Control, this related to the planning system of processing planning applications, as opposed to strategic planning and planning policy. A new IT system was currently being set up to merge the four systems which operated under the former district councils. This would be in place by May/June next year.
Councillor Sturgis responded to the questions set out in the agenda:
· The Kennet District Plan runs out in 2011, what happens then in terms of the local plan, prior to the Wiltshire Core Strategy coming into effect?
· Could the life of the Kennet Plan be extended?
o Yes, it was proposed that the existing plan would remain in place until the Core Strategy was formally adopted.
· How can Parish Councils get more involved in developing future planning?
o Parish Councils were already on the consultation list for the Core Strategy. The recent consultation closed in early August, and there would be another, final consultation in the autumn.
· Can Parish Councils receive automatic alerts at each stage of the planning process?
o The questioner clarified that this question related to receiving updates whenever a new detail was added to the planning system (e.g. response from conservation officer) rather than simply being notified of the receipt of a new application. Councillor Sturgis reported that the new IT system would offer this facility, whereby Parish Councils could select from a menu of options to receive alerts at various stages. It was queried whether this could happen earlier than May/June 2012, when the new IT system would be operational; Councillor Sturgis undertook to look into this.
ACTION: Councillor Toby Sturgis
In relation to further written questions which had been received:
· Previously there has been discussion re the sustainability of supporting affordable housing proposals, on exception sites, in small villages (ie those without 6 facilities of eg pub, bus route, school etc). This was strongly argued against in Elinor Goodman's government report on encouraging affordable housing. Please could you tell us Core Strategy thinking on this?
o It was for local people to put forward their own exception site, and to determine how their own communities were to develop. Wiltshire Council would support Parishes in creating new homes to help retain and increase community facilities
· Are so-called "piggy back" schemes still frowned upon?
o It was hoped that more “mixed” exception sites could be rolled out, and this would be supported by the Core Strategy. Neighbourhood plans could also help deliver this.
Councillor Sturgis also undertook to investigate an incident where a parish Council had been listed as a secondary consultee for an application on the parish border, but had not received the application nor the invitation to comment.
ACTION: Councillor Toby Sturgis