Issue - meetings

Report of Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, Councillor Mike Collins

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the Examiner’s recommended modifications on the Leckhampton with Warden Hill Neighbourhood Development Plan are accepted;

2.    a ‘referendum version’ of the Plan is produced (incorporating the Examiner’s modifications, together with consequential and other minor corrections for accuracy)¸ and can proceed to a referendum;

3.    authority is delegated to the Director of Planning and Building Control, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, to prepare the decision statement for publication.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control introduced his report, which sets out that, with some minor modifications, the independent examiner has found that the proposed Leckhampton with Warden Hill Neighbourhood Plan meets the necessary conditions and recommends it to go forward to referendum. In accordance with its neighbourhood planning protocol, and as the local planning authority, CBC can consider what action to take in response, and he is happy to support the officers’ agreement to accept the examiner’s recommendations in full.

He said the journey to this stage has been long and sometimes difficult, taking up a large amount of officer time and resource, and close work with the parish council.  He thanked the officer team for their hard work.

Members supported the recommendations, and made the following comments:

-       it is exciting to see this great leap forward – neighbourhood plans are important in giving local communities the chance to say what happens in their area;

-       Liberal Democrats are always keen to devolve decision-making to the lowest level, and this is a good example.  The parish council is to be congratulated on this huge piece of work, with much credit due to the officers who supported them.  It is great that we can now move ahead to the referendum and engage with the community;

-       once adopted, the percentage of CIL receipts for Leckhampton with Warden Hill will rise from 15% to 25% - a significant benefit, which shows that all the hard work is a good investment;

-       it is good to see the inclusion of Policy LWH7, which will protect dwellings against future flooding and climate change.  The Parish Council has worked extremely hard on this and it will be good to get it into operation. 

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the Examiner’s recommended modifications on the Leckhampton with Warden Hill Neighbourhood Development Plan are accepted;

2.    a ‘referendum version’ of the Plan is produced (incorporating the Examiner’s modifications, together with consequential and other minor corrections for accuracy)¸ and can proceed to a referendum;

3.    authority is delegated to the Director of Planning and Building Control, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, to prepare the decision statement for publication.