Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Swindon Cllr David Renard.

Apologies were also received from Paddy Bradley, SWLEP Director and Adam Schallamach, Vice Chairman SWLEP. Mr Peter Wragg, also from the SWLEP, was in attendance.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2018.

To receive the minutes of the SWELP Board held on 21 March 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2018 were presented, along with the minutes of the SWLEP Board meeting on 21 March 2018.

Resolved:

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2018 as a true and correct record.

To receive the minutes of the SWLEP Board on 21 March 2018.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the relevant Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 on the front of the agenda 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 on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 20 June 2018 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on22 June 2018. Please contact the officer named on the front 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.

There were no statements or questions submitted.

To receive highlight reports on SWELP projects.

A report was received summarising the status of each Local Growth Fund project and other SWLEP projects, assessing their management in accordance with the Assurance Framework and their level of progress. It was explained that technical advisers to the SWLEP had assessed each project and identified six projects in particular as being ‘focus’ projects that warranted special attention in the summary, and the Committee sought details on those projects, as well as overall progress for all projects as detailed in the report.

Production of the business case for phase 1b of The Chippenham Station Hub project had been delayed due to the availability of Network Rail resource. The SWLEP looked at re-arranging phases, bringing forward stage 5 work, to try to limit overall delays. A letter had been sent from John Mortimer to GWR to request that the issue was addressed. Delays to the project could result in funding being lost, as it must be used by March 2021, and therefore the Committee would lend their support to a more strongly worded letter being sent and requested that this suggestion should be taken back to the SWLEP board.

The A350 Yarnbrook/West Ashton project was reported to be progressing well. Funding to cover cost increases had been successfully granted by the Housing Infrastructure Fund and planning permission had been awarded. Discussions were taking place on progressing development work at a faster pace with an associated acceleration of the LGF spend on the project.

The Head of Terms for the land deal with THRE for Salisbury Central Car Park and the Maltings were in a mature state. However the recent incident in Salisbury had prompted a review between the developer and Wiltshire Council. New approaches were being investigated, such as the change of use of some buildings. Discussions were underway with Central Government. The planning application was due to be submitted in August 2018.

The application to the Housing Infrastructure Fund to cover increased costs for the Swindon Bus Exchange was unsuccessful. However the SWLEP Board agreed that LGF funding would continue based on new plans and profiles submitted by Swindon Borough Council. Construction was unlikely to be completed by May 2021, however this would not create issues regarding the funding as this would be used in earlier stages of the project.

Work was progressing on the New Eastern Villages projects. Costs were reported to have increased on the Southern Connector Road project due to design requirements to mitigate archaeological discoveries. These increased costs would be covered by developer contributions. However an application had also been made to the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF). If this was successful the developer contribution could be released for other elements of the project. The result of the HIF application would be known in Summer 2018. Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet had approved potential compulsory purchase orders for the project.

A design option had been selected for the A420/Gablecross and land assembly was underway. Osborne were appointed to provide early contractor involvement.

The Wichelstowe Southern Access  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

An update will be provided on joint planning work between Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council and the SWELP.

An update was provided by Philip Smith, Service Manager – Planning Policy at Swindon Borough Council. Government consultations on a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) had been completed. The revisions were due to published before parliamentary recess on 22 July 2018 and would go out for further consultation over the summer. As drafted the revisions contained a number of changes to policy that would affect joint working between Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council.

These included a standardised methodology for calculating the scale of housing need of each local authority. Using the new standardised methodology the assed local housing need for Wiltshire would remain roughly the same, however the figures for Swindon would be significantly lower (approximately 30%). The implications of this would mean that it would be easier for Swindon Borough Council to achieve a 5 year housing supply.

The draft NPPF does not refer to Strategic Housing Market Assessments, which use ‘housing market areas’ as the identified geography by which housing need must be assessed. However the SHMA still contained locally important evidence about the pattern of need as the new method does not take account of growth or economic trends.

Under the draft NPPF the role of the Joint Spatial Framework would change. There was a move back towards a strategic plan and subsequent plans to address local issues which in combination would make up the development plan. The draft NPPF stated that these strategic policies could be a joint statutory plan or individual local plan. It was felt that the joint statutory route was not the most prudent and that both authorities would continue to produce local plans.

A further implication of the draft NPPF was an effect on the timetables of the Joint Spatial Framework and the review of the Local Plan. The two authorities were considering what the revised timetable would look like and would update JSEC at the next meeting, this would take into account any further revisions to the NPPF.

Resolved:

To note the update on joint planning work.

To confirm the dates of the next meetings as 11 October 2018 and 13 December 2018.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 11 October 2018.