Agenda and draft minutes

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 8 March 2021

The notes of the meeting held on 8 March were received.

To receive a briefing on the Conservation Area appraisals for Horsham town before they are considered at the Cabinet meeting on 23 September

The Head of Strategic Planning and the Conservation Officer gave an update on ongoing appraisals of Conservation Areas across the district.

Under Section 71 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 Local Authorities have to, from time to time, review their Conservation Areas and the Council is currently going through this process.

The district currently has 37 Conservation Areas however only 11 currently have an adopted appraisal therefore the Council has started a rolling programme of reviewing and adopting appraisals and management plans, most recently Slinfold and Warnham appraisals. Three more Conservation Area appraisals are ongoing:  London Road, Richmond Road and Horsham Town Centre

The Conservation Officer outlined the outcome of the appraisal work to date together with the recommendations for the three Conservation Areas:

London Road: Designated in 1984, this Conservation Area is quite small with a range of vernacular and historic building techniques as well as a range of uses but no current appraisal in place. The current proposal is to extend the Area to the North to include the West Point building up to Park Lodge while also including the Methodist hall, 48-52 London Road and the West Point Building as locally listed buildings.

Richmond Road: Designated in 1989, this area again does not currently have an appraisal. There is the proposal to extend the Conservation Area to the south to include the Victorian properties 88-84 Hurst Road, 3 Richmond Road and the roadside pavement, trees, and walls of Richmond Road between the junction with Hurst Road and the existing Conservation Area.

Horsham Town Centre: Originally designated in 1972 this area has been reviewed on a number of occasions most recently in 2001. The proposal is to extend the Conservation Area to include St Mary’s Cemetery. The lodge is already a part of the Conservation area and it appears appropriate to include the wider cemetery in the area as it brings a sense of openness and reflects other areas of the Conservation Area.

It is proposed these are agreed for a period of public consultation. If this is agreed the next steps are:

·        update local Members and Neighbourhood Councils;

·        inform the Horsham Society of the forthcoming (2021) public consultations;

·        undertake a 5 week consultation period (7 October – 11 November 2021); and

·        following the consultation, summarise responses and use this to make any potential amendments to the appraisals and present these to Cabinet to agree the final Conservation Area Appraisals as Council policy.

In addition to the ongoing programme of Conservation Areas, Members raised the potential to consider the possible designation of additional Conservation Areas in Horsham.

Members were advised that whilst this will be considered this needs to be balanced with the legal requirement to appraise existing conservation areas and the time and resource available to complete this work.

To consider amendments to the Council’s Planning Local Enforcement Plan. These amendments follow comments made as part of the independent Planning Advisory Service review of the planning compliance service, which was undertaken in 2019.

The changes to the Local Enforcement Plan include focussing on service priorities and standards, and re-designing it in order to direct readers more easily to the information they need.

The Planning Compliance Team Leader presented a proposal to update the Local Enforcement Plan and create a new CIL Enforcement Policy.

The existing Local Enforcement Plan was published in March 2016. The planning enforcement service was reviewed by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) in 2019 who considered that:

·        Overall, the enforcement service was performing well;

·        The Council was taking a reasonable approach to enforcement;

·        The existing Local Enforcement Plan would benefit from being updated to concentrate on service priorities;

·        The document’s structure and style could be simplified;

·        The Local Enforcement Plan would benefit from being redesigned to direct readers more easily to the information they need;

Following this feedback changes are proposed to the Local Enforcement plan.

·        The levels of priority are proposed to be streamlined to the two most commonly used – ‘Immediate’ and ‘up to 15 working days’.

Service standards, which were already internally in place, have now been included in the plan so that residents can understand and follow the process more easily.

To consider the adoption of a CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) Enforcement Policy

The CIL collection process has now reached a stage where an Enforcement Policy is required. 

This policy explains the penalties and enforcement powers that will be taken by Horsham District Council for non-payment of CIL charges, making the powers covered in the legislation clearer and easier to follow. 

A brief update on the performance of the Planning Compliance team was also given by the Planning Compliance Team Leader.

While formal action is the least preferable option and is used as a last resort, the Council is always prepared to take enforcement action when alternative measures fail, or it is clear that planning would not be granted for the works if it had been sought. However, the statutory framework makes the process long, particularly in the event of an appeal.

There was discussion regarding the wording of the new Local Enforcement Plan which officers confirmed would be reviewed with the Council’s legal team and updated if necessary.     

To update the Group on the Local Plan review process

Members received an update from the Head of Strategic Planning on the Local Plan and the impact of the NPPF update.

Strategic Planning are in the process of reviewing the plan in the light of the requirement for large-scale urban extensions or new settlements to be set in the context of a 30 year vision, including updates to the evidence base where relevant. Members will be given an update on officer recommendations in the coming months.

In addition, the slight delay to the Local Plan programme has given more time to engage with Parishes, especially in relation to smaller sites.     

To update the Group on progress in delivering the key strategic sites allocated in the adopted Horsham District Planning Framework

The Head of Development & Building Control gave an update on progress on the strategic sites, which were noted by the Group.

North Horsham:

·           Phase 1A: (196 Dwellings) has commenced;

·           Phase 1B (193 Dwellings) is in the process of being approved;

·           Phase 6/7 (221 Dwellings inc. 97 Affordable and 124 build-to-rent) has been submitted;

·           Reserved Matters for secondary street access to Devine land have been submitted with a RM application for 175 dwellings expected later this year on Devine land;

·           Expecting Reserved Matters application for the Morrison’s site in September;

·           Progress on the school is going well.

Southwater:

·           Phase 5 still hasn’t been issued but HDC are in discussion with WSCC in relation to this;

·           Community Infrastructure has been completed and transferred to the Parish Council.

East Billingshurst:

·           No major update but work continues as planned.

West of Horsham:

·           No major updates, expecting the fire station works to commence in the coming months.

Kilnwood vale:

·           No recent applications but build is continuing on phases 3C and 2B, D, E & F;

·           A number of staff changes have occurred at the developer - a steering group meeting is scheduled in October;

·           HDC have requested the Neighbourhood Centre is delivered as a priority;

·           Delivery of the bus gate and green/play areas expected later this year.

Novartis:

·           Delivery partner has been approved (Muse Development Limited);

·           Awaiting contract signing before discussions can start.

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

The Forward Plan extract was noted.