Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

 No declarations of personal interest were received.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

 No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held 22.06.2018 be signed as a true record.

The minutes of the Committee held on 22 June 2018 were accepted as a true record.

To submit the Policy Manager’s report

A presentation by Nia Haf Davies providing an update on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which included an update of the national situation in Wales under the devolved set-up and its future in the national context.

It was explained that the levy was a planning charge introduced by the Planning Act 2008 as a tool for local authorities in England and Wales to help deliver infrastructure to support the development of their area. It has now been devolved to the Welsh Government.

The Committee was asked for the right to postpone the process of preparing CIL until there is clear guidance concerning the future of the CIL in Wales, which will be reported to the Committee once there is guidance on the issue.

Matters arising:

·         When will the Welsh Government look into this matter?

Response:

·         The Government has not given a timetable to complete the work. This will be detailed work, which will involve a change in legislation.

Decision – To accept the recommendation to postpone the process of preparing CIL until clear guidance is given on the future on CIL in Wales.

To submit the Senior Planning Policy Officers’ reports

APPENDIX 1 – OPEN SPACES IN NEW HOUSING DEVLEOPMENTS SPG

A presentation by Linda Lee giving an update on the Open Spaces in new Housing Developments SPG since it was presented to the Joint Local Development Plan Panel on the 17 July 2018.

Matters arising:

·         Should the SPG state that all children’s play areas have to adhere to appropriate standards?

·         Support paragraph 2.2.5, which asks for justification from the applicant regarding developing at a lower density in order to ensure that applications are not purposefully trying to avoid reaching the threshold level of 10 or more

Response:

·         All childrens’ play areas need to adhere to the National standards therefore it does not need to be included in the SPG.

·          Comment noted

Decision:

Approve the publication of the SPG for public consultation.

APPENDIX 2 – LOCAL MARKET HOUSING SPG

A presentation by Rhodri Owen giving an update on the Open Spaces in new Housing Developments SPG since it was presented to the Joint Local Development Plan Panel on the 17 July 2018.

It was noted that following discussions with legal departments of both Councils there is one change from the original SPG, which is to extend the period for marketing the property for 12 weeks in steps 1 and 2. The cascade system.

Matters arising:

·         Will it be possible to increase the footprint of local market houses for people who require a home office?

·         Will there be a maximum price for building or selling local market housing?

·         How much evidence will applicants have to present and how detailed will the Councils’ assessment of the evidence be? What will happen if the evidence is found to be incorrect after the house has been built?

·         Will builders be allowed to build houses and sell them on to eligible people?

Response:

·         Home offices will need to be part of the footprint of the house and not as additional space. This will be the case no matter what type of house it is, including affordable housing. Any room in the house can be used as a home office.

·          There will be no maximum price to build or sell Local Market Houses. Similar to affordable or agricultural dwellings they will be affordable to local people or affordable by design.

·         The Planning Service does not wish to make the process of submitting a planning application more onerous than it should be. However it is important to ensure that only eligible people live in local market houses. Therefore it is important to ask for robust evidence. In terms of people submitting incorrect or fraudulent evidence during the application process there are means of taking enforcement action against them which may mean court action because they have knowingly circumvented the planning system.

·         Builders will be able to build the local market housing but, as with affordable housing, the housing must be occupied by people who meet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.