Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development on the Community Infrastructure Levy Draft Charging Schedule and Planning Obligations & Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document

RESOLVED

(i)         That an additional strategic site (Kilnwood Vale) should be zero rated for CIL.

(ii)        That the Proposed Modification in recommendation (i) be subject to 4 weeks’ consultation, prior to submission for Examination.

(iii)       That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to agree minor editorial changes.

REASONS

(i)         To take into account issues raised during the consultation period that would address concerns about the deliverability of a key allocation within the HDPF and lead to the Examiner finding CIL appropriate for adoption by the Council.

(ii)        To ensure that the Examiner has clarity on any outstanding issues prior to his examination. Note that the 4 week consultation period on proposed modifications is a requirement of the CIL Regulations.

(iii)       To undertake minor editorial or typographical amendments.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Development reported that the Council had invited representations on its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Draft Charging Schedule from 6 May to 17 June 2016, in line with the requirements of the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended).  The relevant evidence supporting the Draft Charging Schedule was published alongside and comments were invited.  A total of 24 people or organisations responded.

A developer had requested that another strategic site in the District (Kilnwood Vale) should have a zero CIL charge as they were concerned that there was no flexibility in the CIL Draft Charging Schedule or the current regulations that would allow them to amend their applications, if needed in the future, to effectively deliver the site.  Whilst this issue could be resolved, it required more than a minor change to the Draft Charging Schedule, although the rate and the amount of money that would be generated would remain unchanged as the infrastructure would be delivered through Section 106 agreements as currently planned.

Additional evidence had been produced to support and test the viability of this proposal.  If the proposal was approved by Cabinet, this evidence, as well as the detailed wording of the change to the document, would be subject to targeted public consultation before submission of the CIL Draft Charging Schedule, Proposed Modifications (and any comments on the Proposed Modifications) for examination by an independent Examiner. The Examination could then take place directly following the consultation on the Proposed Modifications.

As the Proposed Modifications aimed to address this main issue in addition to minor issues raised during the preparation of the Draft Charging Schedule, the Council would have done all it could to minimise the length of the examination and ensure the adoption of its CIL charge in a timely way.

The Planning and Development Policy Development Advisory Group supported the proposal.

RESOLVED

(i)         That an additional strategic site (Kilnwood Vale) should be zero rated for CIL.

(ii)        That the Proposed Modification in recommendation (i) be subject to four weeks’ consultation, prior to submission for Examination.

(iii)       That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to agree minor editorial changes.

REASONS

(i)         To take into account issues raised during the consultation period that would address concerns about the deliverability of a key allocation within the HDPF and lead to the Examiner finding CIL appropriate for adoption by the Council.

(ii)        To ensure that the Examiner has clarity on any outstanding issues prior to his examination. Note that the 4 week consultation period on proposed modifications is a requirement of the CIL Regulations.

(iii)       To undertake minor editorial or typographical amendments.

The documents may be viewed here:

https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planningpolicy/planning-policy/community-infrastructure-levy

The CIL Charging Schedule sets a charging schedule against which proposed development will be expected to contribute in order to bring forward infrastructure provision to help meet the needs of new development. The Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule was published for consultation in May/June 2014 and following the adoption of the Horsham District Planning Framework in November 2015, the Draft Charging Schedule was published for consultation in May/June 2016. It is anticipated that it will be submitted for examination in the autumn.

The Planning Obligations & Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document sets out the Council’s approach to securing planning obligations and affordable housing from new development. It is not a policy document but provides guidance on the policy requirements of the Council so that developers and landowners know when, how and why the Council will seek planning obligations from new development. It is an important background document for the Inspector who will be examining the CIL Charging Schedule because it shows the relationship between CIL and planning obligations (s106).

The Head of Strategic Planning and Sustainability explained that following the adoption of the Horsham District Planning Framework in November 2015,  the Draft Charging Schedule had been published for consultation in May / June 2016. The consultation had now closed and 24 individuals or organisations had responded of which 5 were statutory responders, 9 were developers and 7 were parish or neighbourhood councils. The group discussed with officers:

·         the proposed recommended modification to the zero-rating of large strategic sites, consequent to developers having provided evidence following the consultation stage

·         that CIL was otherwise non-negotiable, save for exemptions

·         that CIL was a general levy on all development whilst s106 was site specific and that;

·         CIL regulations required charging authorities to demonstrate a funding gap between infrastructure requirements and available funding in order to provide evidence for the need to charge CIL.

The group duly noted and supported the forthcoming timeline of a report to Cabinet scheduled for 22 September, followed by consultation, and examination by the Planning Inspector, with the view to adoption of the Schedule by the end of 2016.