Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: the Preston Room, Woodgate Chambers, Woodgate, Loughborough. View directions

Note: Additional Meeting (Local Plan Pre-submission Consultation and Submission) 

Items
No. Item

1.

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Personal Interests

Minutes:

Councillor Smidowicz referred to having raised issues/made comments in relation to the Local Plan, but those had been resolved by officers in advance and so she came to the meeting with an open mind.

2.

Leader's Announcements

Minutes:

The Leader referred to the recent news that Loughborough Town Deal had been successful in its Town Fund bid, with £17m of Government funding having been secured. It came with the ability to put in a significant amount of private capital also and probably represented one of the biggest investments the Council had been able to make in the town of Loughborough for a generation or more.  The Town Deal Board would meet soon to start work on projects as soon as it could.  It was extremely good news for Loughborough and the Board was very pleased.

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 197 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting on 8th April 2021.

 

To note the minutes of the informal meeting on 10th May 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 8th April 2021 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.  The minutes of the informal meeting held on 10th May 2021 were also noted.

4.

Questions under Cabinet Procedure 10.7 pdf icon PDF 83 KB

The deadline for questions is noon on Wednesday, 2nd June 2021. 

Minutes:

Mr M. Hunt – Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

 

“1.     With the completion of another large Hall of Residence on campus and more Purpose-Built Student Accommodation constructed or due to be completed in and around the town centre what evidence is there that more HMOs are needed in the town?

2.      How many extra HMOs, if any, does evidence suggest are needed in the town?

3.      Is there any evidence to inform the council where the new HMOs are likely to be cited?

4.      How many extra HMOs have been estimated to be generated over the next 5 years with thresholds of 20%, 10% and 5% respectively?

5.      The wards of Loughborough Ashby and Nanpantan are currently experiencing more applications than other wards because they back onto the university and are not overwhelmed yet.  Is there any evidence that the numbers of HMOs in the more saturated areas of Loughborough Storer and Southfields will 'migrate' their number of HMOs to less saturated areas?”

 

The following response had been published prior to the meeting:

 

As HMO provision is market led and a consequence of actions by individual homeowners/commercial landlords, there is no assessment of the need for this type of provision in the housing market, either locally or nationally. HMO residents are not exclusively made up of full time students, and this type of housing can provide an important provision for many different types of circumstances. The Borough housing needs survey which informs the local plan makes no assumptions in relation to HMOs and the policy in the local plan is focussed on mitigating impacts on local communities through the Article 4 direction.

 

Mr Hunt attended the meeting and asked the following supplementary question:

 

“1.     Can I assume from the reply that the Council has no evidence to support the need for HMOs?

2.      Doesn’t the Council take housing need into account when responding to planning applications for Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (ie. PBSAs which compete directly with HMOs in the local housing market)?

3.      The three-year study presented by Prof Smith & Colora, commissioned by the Borough Council, presents ward by ward figures for HMOs; coupled with the copious records of Article 4 Direction applications, doesn’t this indicate where future trends in HMO applications will go, if so can this evidence be published?

4.      I was asking if there were any estimates of extra number of HMOs that would be generated at different thresholds; doesn’t the Council have any idea what these figures may be?”

 

The following response to the supplementary question was given:

 

1.      The Council does not have evidence to support the need for HMOs. They are market led.

2.      The Council does not take into account housing need when assessing planning applications for Purpose-Built Student Accommodation.

3.      The HMO study published in December 2018 provides information on the concentration and pattern of HMOs in Loughborough. Inferences may be taken about market trends in the location of HMOs from the databases used to inform this study. However, this data cannot  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Agenda Variance

Minutes:

Item 7 on the agenda was considered before item 6.

6.

Neighbourhood Plans for Queniborough, Rothley and The Wolds pdf icon PDF 183 KB

A report of the Head of Planning and Regeneration.

 

Key Decision

 

 

Minutes:

Considered, a report of the Head of Planning and Regeneration seeking approval for the Rothley Neighbourhood Plan, the Queniborough Neighbourhood Plan, and the Wolds Villages Neighbourhood Plan to be ‘made’ as part of the statutory development plan for their respective Neighbourhood Areas (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

The Head of Planning and Regeneration assisted with consideration of the report.

 

The considerable work undertaken by the areas concerned to progress the plans was acknowledged and all those involved were congratulated.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.      that the Rothley Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ to confirm its status as part of the statutory development plan for Charnwood, in accordance with the provisions of Section 38(A) (4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;

 

2.      that the Queniborough Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ to confirm its status as part of the statutory development plan for Charnwood, in accordance with the provisions of Section 38(A) (4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;

 

3.      that the Wolds Villages Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ to confirm its status as part of the statutory development plan for Charnwood, in accordance with the provisions of Section 38(A) (4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;

 

4.      that any minor amendments to the Rothley Neighbourhood Plan, the Queniborough Neighbourhood Plan, and the Wolds Villages Neighbourhood Plan, with the agreement of the respective Parish Councils, can be made under delegated authority by the Head of Planning and Regeneration. 

 

Reasons  

 

1.      To fulfil the legal duty to make the Rothley Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for Charnwood.

 

2.      To fulfil the legal duty to make the Queniborough Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for Charnwood.

 

3.      To fulfil the legal duty to make the Wolds Villages Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for Charnwood.

 

4.      To enable minor amendments such as typographical errors or factual corrections to be made efficiently. 

7.

Charnwood Local Plan Pre-submission Consultation and Submission pdf icon PDF 224 KB

A report of the Head of Planning and Regeneration, for recommendation to Council.

 

Key Decision

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Considered, a report of the Head of Planning and Regeneration seeking approval for the publication of the Pre-Submission (Regulation 19) version of the Charnwood Local Plan (2021-2037) and its supporting documents for public consultation and recommending that Council submit the Local Plan and its amended supporting documents to the Secretary of State for an Examination in Public (item 6 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

 

Also considered, a supplementary report setting out proposed amendments to the above Pre-Submission version of the Local Plan to reflect changes in Government policy on affordable housing and First Homes (copy filed with these minutes).

 

Councillor Seaton, Chair of the Scrutiny Commission, presented a report setting out the Commission’s pre-decision scrutiny of the report of the Head of Planning and Regeneration and its recommendation (copy filed with these minutes).  The Scrutiny Commission was thanked for its pre-decision scrutiny of the matter.

 

The Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Group Leader Plans, Policies and Place Making assisted with consideration of the report

 

Officers were thanked for their considerable work on the Local Plan.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.      that the Pre-Submission Charnwood Local Plan (2021-2037) and Policies Map, contained in Appendix A to the report, be approved as the Cabinet’s preferred planning strategy for Charnwood 2021-2037 but that when recommended to Council the Local Plan is amended in accordance with the wording in the appendix to the supplementary report submitted to this meeting;

 

2.      that delegated authority be given to the Head of Planning and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead Member for Planning and the Leader, to make minor amendments to Appendix A to the report including the insertion of illustrations to aid the interpretation of the local plan, prior to publication.

 

3.      that the Consultation Plan set out in Appendix G to the report be approved;

 

4.      that delegated authority be given to the Head of Planning and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead Member for Planning and the Leader, to revise the Consultation Plan set out in Appendix G to the report; 

 

5.      that the Pre-Submission Local Plan, Policies Map, Sustainability Appraisal Report, Habitat Regulations Assessment, Statement of Consultation and the other supporting documents contained in the Appendices to the report be published for public consultation for at least six weeks, in accordance with the consultation plan agreed in resolution 3 above;

 

6.      that the Head of Planning and Regeneration be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning and the Leader, to update the Statement of Consultation in light of the representations received to the Pre-Submission Local Plan and to make amendments to the supporting documents to improve the legibility and/or to respond to factual inaccuracies identified in those representations before it is submitted to the Secretary of State;

 

7.      that subject to amendments made in resolutions 2 and 6 above, that it be recommended to Council that the Pre-Submission Local Plan, Sustainability Appraisal Report, Habitat Regulations Assessment, Statement of Consultation and the other supporting documents set out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.