Minutes

Apologies received from: Emma Nasta, Carol Pilson, David Rowen, Adam Tuck and David Wyatt.

Present: Dino Biagioni, Stephen Buddle, Marcel Cooper, Gareth Edwards, Matthew Hall, Nick Harding, Councillor Dee Laws, John Maxey, Nick Seaton, Tim Slater, Councillor Will Sutton, Ann Wardle, Reiss Sacker, Austin CAA, Michael T, Laura Church, Peter Harley, Jordan Trundle, George Wilkinson, I White, Freya McDonald and Christian Cooper.

The notes of the previous meeting were approved.

The actions from the previous meeting were discussed.

In relation to Item 4, John Maxey advised he has been in contact with Homes England and has a contact called Carlton Robert James from their infrastructure team and he has already suggested to Councillor Mrs Laws that a meeting couuld be set up with Homes England and the CPCA to talk about what the situation is with regards to funding for Highway improvements in Fenland because there could be the an opportunity to be able to get some funding from Homes England as an alternative.

Nick Harding replied he will contact other colleagues to attend that meeting as well.

Nick Harding shared a timetable to show the submission to the Secretary of State with the original timetable of April 2023, but there has been slippage with regards to the call for sites, however, this is under review and it is likely that Regulation 19 will be in July 2023, and with Peterborough withdrawing their assistance, there is doubt whether this deadline will be reached in time for the next consultation. A paper has been put together and there is the need to see if a group of officers can get together to progress the plan further, having contacted other authorities to see if they could assist and they could not, the only other option is to get local planners in or contractors to help with this plan and those two options are being worked on and costed which will go through Fenland District Council’s Management Team then considered by members.

John Maxey asked what are the likely timescales.? Nick Harding responded that the Management Team will come back this month then it will be presented to members after the election in June 2023.

John Maxey asked if this would be 9-12 months? Nick Harding responded that the plan is to assemble an in-house team, this might involve agency staff to get this going but that discussion and decision will be made with members at that point in time and it does depend on whether existing work is stopped on the existing version of the emerging local plan until decisions are made by the Government to start again with regards to future arrangements for planning production nationally.

Councillor Sutton stated that as Government are not dictating numbers, does a housing needs assessment need to be undertaken before this goes much further because there needs to be a guideline of what is required? Nick Harding replied that the transitional arrangements have not been published yet so he does not know what those processes are going to be but he would imagine it can go through under the old system.

Councillor Sutton expressed the view that it would be better if the breaks were put on hold until the assessment has been undertaken so the needs of the Fens is understood in terms of growth. Nick Harding responded that he fully expects planning to evolve over the course of time even if there is a change in the Government as housing development and growth is an important agenda no matter what.

John Maxey expressed the view that if there is a decision made for June there is a risk this could be a Regulation 18 and not 19 and a slippage of at least 6 months or more and asked what will happen with development in that situation? Nick Harding responded that there are several applications coming forward so if the majority are successful there is still a healthy land supply for a number of years and he is not overly concerned.

Nick Harding gave an update with regard to loss of services was provided by Peterborough City Council. He further reported Nick Tollitt and Angela Watson from Enforcement have left and been replaced with 2 agency workers Martin Brimstone and Charles Swayne. The vacancies are out to advert and Sam Falco is starting in May for Conservation.

Nick Harding reported that PCC no longer supply plan and policy support, ecology, Section 106 viability and management or housing strategy.

Ecology is being provided by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC). CCC are lending some time with their Ecologist with the advent of biodiversity net gain and the plan is to share a post between the 2 councils, but this is not finalised yet and will involve a budget increase which will need approval. Every authority is impacted by biodiversity as there is a nationwide shortage of Ecologists.

The proposal for S106 viability/monitoring and Policy & Housing Strategy is being reviewed and costings are being put to FDC Management Team and will then go to Committee for approval. Opportunities for working with other authorities explored but not viable. It is hoped to continue using Mike Freeman on Section 106 as a casual employee but just awaiting approval on this. There is a plan for inhouse housing strategy to help with future projects.

Nick reported there is a 21-day backlog. Each week a validation backlog update is provided on the Council’s web site: https://www.fenland.gov.uk/article/15139/Planning-process  This is provided on a weekly update as to how things are faring on the backlog, there are several people taking leave so this is expected to get worse. Agency enforcement staff are being trained in order that they can undertake some of the tech admin so the officers can catch up on validation. It is too early in the transformation process for ay time to be saved with regards to improved workflow which can be reinvested into the validation process and it is appreciated that a 3-week backlog are not satisfactory.

Councillor Mrs Laws stated the volume of applications coming in has not decreased and there are still applications that need rejecting and this can be time consuming. Nick Harding commented the number of applications has been steady and the Council has not seen any drop off in application rates. Work has just started on the performance of agents, how progress is going on applications being submitted which will help officers strengthen applications and returning them. Councillor Mrs Laws asked if this can be put in a spreadsheet and circulated.

Nick presented the planning application performance:

Planning Applications

Major - 77%

Minor - 61%

Other - 81%

There is concern about performance on minor applications and this has been flagged at the last scrutiny meeting that looked into planning performance but for the purpose of monitoring by Central Government they look at performance of major applications and non-major applications and as a result the non-major applications are failing to reach their target and he has highlighted the fact that unless there is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Consultations: Stronger performance of Local Planning Authorities supported through an increase in planning fees, permitted development changes, EIA arrangements, Infrastructure Levy arrangements.

Invitation to participate in shaping future changes to the planning system.

Nick Harding presented the Government consultation on increasing planning fees, with information on the increased planning fees binge found on the training slide in the link below:

Technical consultation: Stronger performance of local planning authorities supported through an increase in planning fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Consultation until 25 April 2023

•        the funding shortfall for the planning application service is currently estimated to be in the region of £225 million annually (approximately 33%). Proposes fee increases:

•        Major applications by 35%

•        Non-Major applications by 25%

•        PLUS, annual indexation of fees in line with inflation

•        PLUS, undisclosed revision to fees for application variations

•        Asks if the increased income should be ringfenced for spending on the LA planning service.

•        Asks if the retrospective application fee should be double the normal fee (not for householder applications)

•        Thinking about no longer allowing for a completely ‘free go’

•        In return for fee increases the performance targets for councils and 26-week planning guarantee will be tightened (by how much not stated)

•        Also a more detailed categorisation of applications & metrics is being considered to monitor performance [enforcement and customer experience also being proposed to be monitored].

It was asked whether the fees should be ring fenced? When the fees were last put up a finance officer from each district and county council had to sign to say that money would be reinvested within the planning service, this is being looked at to being undertaken again.

Nick Harding presented Permitted development rights: supporting temporary recreational campsites, renewable energy and film-making consultation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

•        Deadline 25 April 2023

•        30 tents for 60 days – prior notification in flood risk areas

•        Solar canopies over non-domestic car parks

•        EV charging points can be installed on behalf of LAs

Question 3^rd party and that local authorities have a say on, will be asking more questions at the next meeting to clarify details.

Nick Harding presented Environmental Outcomes Report: a new approach to environmental assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

•        Closes 9 June 2023

•        Review of triggers for when ES is needed.

•        Developments will be assessed on the basis of whether they meet Nationally (Secretary of State) set environmental outcomes / indicators

•        Stems from the National Improvement Plan 2023

•        Still have to do the same survey work

•        Scoping report submitted with the application or a panel

•        Template ES reports

•        Monitoring of the outcomes stronger.

It is looking at when environmental assessment is needed, there are 2 schedules at present: Schedule 1 the producer, which has to be submitted with the planning application and Schedule 2 is the maybe list which will be reviewed. Where ES is needed the focus will be whether the outcome of the development will come in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

John Maxey stated there has been several emails regarding a Fenland planning application at Chatteris in relation to the level of affordable housing and contributions that Fenland will accept. Nick Harding responded that the presentation will be updated to show the forum the recommendation of the viability assessment for affordable housing.

Councillor Laws commented that the Election is coming up and if she is not elected again this has been a very informative forum and hopes it continues.

It was confirmed the next meeting date is 12 July 2023.