Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of City Development.

Agreed:

RESOLVED that the revised Local Development Scheme (Appendix A of the report) be approved as the basis for preparing local planning policy.

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report.

The Executive received the report on the revised Local Development Scheme which provided a scope and timetable for the preparation of Council planning policy documents, which included the emerging Exeter Plan (the new Local Plan) and other documents. Since the Local Development Scheme was approved in June 2021, work had been progressed and in keeping with statutory requirements, updates were being presented to Members.

Particular reference was made to:-

·         the good progress that had been made in several key areas, which included the Exeter Local Plan, in which the first milestones of the plan had been achieved;

·         the local plan engagement undertaken in late 2022, had exceeded all expectations of local planning policy, and had set a high standard for future consultation;

·         work had been undertaken on the new Article 4 Direction, as well as a full review of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL);

·         a new design code was being developed for the Water Lane area, which was a key priority for the Liveable Exeter initiative;

·         the original budget and resources agreed in 2020 for the Local Plan did not include the broader range of new work being delivered;

·         there was now a better understanding of complexity in delivering on the Brownfield sites and a report on resources for delivering on the key sites would be brought back the Executive in due course; and

·         additional bench marking work on the Exeter Plan would be undertaken through joint working with other local authorities and partners.

Councillor M. Mitchell, as an opposition group leader, spoke on this item and enquired on when the Local Plan and Article 4 Directive documents would be brought back to Executive following consultation?

In response to a Members question, the Director of City Development advised that following consultation each item would be presented back to the Executive for consideration and the Local Plan would be presented to Council for adoption.

During the discussion the following points were made:-

·         the consultation had been highly effective and demonstrated how the Council listened to residents and led to a lot of work being undertaken;

·         the local plan was about defending  green spaces and the challenge for identifying and freeing Brownfield sites was noted; and

·         did the work on Water Lane cause any complications in relation to the redevelopment scheme?

The Portfolio Holder for City Development commented on the hard work of the planning policy team who were still finding solutions to issues with limited resources and noted that there were still areas of the Local Plan were being worked on. She also advised that the Article 4 Direction had been presented at an Executive Committee, earlier in the year.

RESOLVED that the revised Local Development Scheme (Appendix A of the report) be approved as the basis for preparing local planning policy.