Agenda and draft minutes

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 7 September 2017

The notes of the meeting of the PDAG held on 7 September 2017 were received.

Gypsy & Traveller Site Allocations Development Plan Document

An update in the light of the comments received on the previous consultation during May – June 2017 will be provided. The proposed approach to the forthcoming consultation in December 2017 – January 2018 will be considered.

Conservation Area Appraisals

An update on the consultation responses to the draft Conservation Area Appraisals & Management Plans for Henfield, Pulborough, Steyning, Storrington and Billingshurst will be provided.

Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocations Development Plan Document

The Head of Strategic Planning & Sustainability updated the PDAG on amendments that had been made to the draft proposed submission.  Four of the 12 proposed sites had been removed in response to the initial consultation that ended in June, and officers had made some amendments to existing sites and identified one new site to help compensate for this loss. 

The draft Development Plan Document looked at the needs of the District for the next 10 years, which was forecast to now require 68 pitches, and Members noted the extent to which the proposals would address the current and anticipated backlog.  It was noted that the backlog included existing allocated sites which had not yet been granted planning permission as well as those with personal or temporary permission.  

The Cabinet Member explained the importance of progressing the document in order to secure a policy which identified allocated sites, which would provide some protection against inappropriate developments. 

The PDAG were in favour of submitting the draft Development Plan Document to Cabinet on 23 November for approval for an eight week consultation period starting 1 December 2017.

Conservation Area Appraisals

The public consultation on the draft Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans for Henfield, Pulborough, Steyning, Storrington and Billingshurst had been completed and the Principal Planning Officer reported that there had been a number of consultation responses from each area, several of which requested minor amendments. 

The responses would be scrutinised by officers and the consultants, and any recommended amendments would be brought to the next PDAG on 4 January 2018.  It is anticipated that the finalised Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans would be submitted to Cabinet on 25 January 2018 for approval.  Members of the PDAG were supportive of this approach.

The Government has published a consultation document setting out a proposed standard approach to assessing local housing need and a number of other matters, including Neighbourhood Planning. The Council’s proposed technical response will be reported.

The Head of Strategic Planning and Sustainability reported on the consultation document published by the Government regarding planning matters, in particular a proposed standard approach to assessing local housing need.  

Officers had prepared a detailed response outlining the Council’s concerns that a standard approach failed to take into account factors that reflected local circumstances.  The response was backed up with local examples and included economic, environmental and social concerns. 

Members of the PDAG were supportive of this approach and discussed the issues raised in the response.

West Sussex County Council have been awarded 60 days of consultancy time from the Department for Transport to develop Local Walking & Cycling Infrastructure Plans.

The Senior Planning Office briefed the PDAG on details of the 60 day consultancy time that had been awarded to West Sussex County Council to develop a walking and cycling infrastructure strategy across the county.  Horsham District Council had been allocated a percentage of this consultation time, which would become available during the next 12 months, to progress a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. 

The Cabinet Member asked Members to contact the Senior Planning Officer with any comments or suggestions regarding the consultation.

All Districts and Boroughs are working with West Sussex County Council in reviewing parking standards. Consultants have recently been appointed, whose first task is to collect survey data from each authority.

The Senior Planning Officer reported that the Council was coordinating a review of parking standards across West Sussex.  Residential parking had not been reviewed since 2010 and commercial parking since 2003. 

The Cabinet Member highlighted that the purpose of the Parking SPD was to develop a transparent methodology for use across the County.  This would enable appropriate parking allocation to be sought from developers. 

The first stage of the review would survey the current situation, and the PDAG would debate progress and provide advice before a report was taken to Cabinet in March 2018. 

It was noted that a Road Space Audit was to be carried out by specialist consultants on our behalf and officers agreed to clarify how the two projects related to each other.

The ability of Councillors and the Director to revert a planning decision to full Council

The Director of Planning, Economic Development and Property clarified to Members the purpose of 3.6.2(d) of the constitution, which gave him the ability to refer a planning decision to full Council, should he consider that a Planning Committee’s decision to overturn an officer recommendation would be hard to defend at appeal and could lead to significant costs against the Council.

It was stressed that an item would only be referred to Council in exceptional circumstances and it was noted that nothing had been referred since the amendment to the constitution had been made.

Those awarded to and against us and cost claims successfully defended

Item deferred.

To note the Forward Plan extract for the Planning and Development Portfolio

Items on the Forward Plan for the Planning and Development portfolio were noted.