Agenda item

The following motion has been proposed by Councillor Chris Nelson and seconded by Councillor Chard

“This Council directs the Leader of the Council to write urgently to the National Planning Casework Unit in support of the SD2 Call-In request by Alex Chalk MP and Laurence Robertson MP, highlighting the need to await the recommendation of the JCS Examination in Public on Local Green Space”

At this point the Deputy Mayor left the chamber.

The Mayor reported that a motion had been submitted by Councillor Chris Nelson in relation to the call in on the SD2 site/decision. He explained that he had determined the motion as urgent as it could not be delayed to another meeting of Council and related to business and matters already under consideration in terms of the Joint Core Strategy.

Councillor Chris Nelson then proposed the following motion which was seconded by Councillor Chard :

This Council requests the Leader of the Council to write urgently to the National Planning Casework Unit in support of the SD2 Call-In request by Alex Chalk MP and Laurence Robertson MP, highlighting the need to await the recommendation of the JCS Examination in Public on Local Green Space.

The following amendment had been proposed by Councillor McKinlay and seconded by Councillor Jordan and circulated prior to the meeting:

Delete working of motion and replace with:

“This Council requests the Leader of the Council to write urgently to the National Planning Casework Unit in support of a SD2 call in request, in relation to Tewkesbury Borough Council Planning decision 14/00838/FUL consistent with the original letter of objection to this application sent by the Borough Council on the 6^th July 2015”

As the amendment was accepted in full by Councillor Nelson, he then spoke to the amended substantive motion.  He explained that it was important that the council wrote to the NPCU in support of the call in request as this would add weight to it and highlight the cross border issues which it raised. He explained that it had been supported by LEGLAG, CPRE and 3 Parish Councils. Whilst the amended motion referred to the Borough Council’s original letter of objection to the application on 6 July a previous letter had been submitted on 1 December 2015. Councillor Nelson explained that the original motion had made specific reference to the local green space issue and referred to the fact that when Council signed up to the JCS in April 2014 the Leader spoke about the importance of the Local Green Space Application and the wish to see this considered in Leckhampton and North West Cheltenham. He reported that there had been agreement in principle of the need to examine Local Green Space in the ongoing JCS examination in public and an interim statement on Local Green Space was expected in January 2016.

He believed that if the council wanted the JCS process to be conducted in a proper manner, there was a need for the examination in public to take place and be concluded so the Secretary of State could consider the issues strategically.

Councillor Nelson stated that given the Council’s emphasis on Local Green Space and the Local Green Space consultation exercise which had taken place across the borough, there was a good case for it to be included in the letter.

As proposer of the accepted amendment Councillor McKinlay expressed his support for cross party working. It was important that Council did support the request to be consistent with the fact that it was fighting a planning appeal on the rest of the site. He believed his amendment had provided that consistency and highlighted that representations had been made to Tewkesbury Borough Council in December 2014 and July 2015. In terms of references made thus far to green space he believed the amendment was consistent with previous statements to Tewkesbury which made specific references to the green infrastructure strategy rather than Local Green Space.

The Director Planning, Tracey Crews, was invited to address Council. She confirmed that Local Green Space had not been referenced in the letters to Tewkesbury to date as the issue related to a more comprehensive green infrastructure strategy. The Local Green Space argument could however be used in the context of the recent appeal. She made reference to the long debate which Planning Committee had had when discussing their approach to defending their reasons for refusal at Leckhampton and whilst the Committee believed the green space argument should be included, the legal advice was not to include this as this was well defined by the Parish Council and LEGLAG. She explained however that if the Secretary of State were to accept the call-in there would be a further opportunity to raise it.

In the debate that followed it was recognised that the decision taken by Tewkesbury Borough Council directly affected and was of great concern to the residents of Leckhampton. They acknowledged that being consistent was a sensible approach and was a natural progression of Cheltenham’s position. Some Members believed that partners in Tewkesbury had not fully understood the sensitivities of the site.

A Member recognised the issues but highlighted the housing need in the town with 3000 people on the housing waiting list and thus it was vital that the JCS kept moving forward.

The Director Planning was invited to address Council on the impact supporting the call-in request would have on the progress of the JCS and the Local Plan. She explained that signing up to the principle of the objection would not undermine progress.

In his closing remarks Councillor Nelson thanked Councillor McKinlay and the Director Planning but again highlighted his belief that TBC did not give thorough consideration of a complex issue. It was important to support the call in request to ensure that there was review at a strategic level. He understood the issue of consistency in the council’s approach but requested that emphasis was given in the Leader’s letter to the density argument and the importance of Local Green Space areas.

RESOLVED THAT

This Council requests the Leader of the Council to write urgently to the National Planning Casework Unit in support of a SD2 call in request, in relation to Tewkesbury Borough Council Planning decision 14/00838/FUL consistent with the original letter of objection to this application sent by the Borough Council on the 6^th July 2015”