Agenda and minutes

The Chief Executive of South Northamptonshire Council called for nominations for the appointment of a Chairman.

Councillor Chris Millar proposed and Councillor Sandra Barnes seconded that Councillor Tony Woods be appointed Chairman of the Joint Planning Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Woods be appointed Chairman of the Joint Planning Committee.

The Chairman welcomed members of the public to the meeting and explained that the West Northamptonshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee had been established by statute to be the planning policy authority for West Northamptonshire.  The Councillors of the Committee had been appointed by their respective councils and there were three observers who had non-voting rights from Wellingborough Borough Council (as being affected by some of the potential growth), West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (as the delivery vehicle that would be making the development control decisions) and a representative of the Labour Party as the life of the strategy would be until 2026.  The Joint Planning Committee was supported by the Joint Planning Unit, which comprised professional planning officers, and it was also supported by a senior officer from each of the Councils sitting on the Programme Board.  The Joint Planning Committee would set the overall planning policy and each council would have its own policies within that framework, for example, Northampton Borough’s Central Area Action Plan.  Furthermore, each District Council and the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation would make development control decisions within that framework. 

The decision that the Joint Planning Committee would be making at this meeting was to approve the emergent Joint Core Strategy for public consultation.  In November a pre-submission draft would be published for consultation prior to being submitted to the Secretary of State in March 2010.  It was hoped that as many people as possible would contribute to the formal consultation period.  The Chairman explained that the headline figures of housing and jobs had been set by Government and the Regional Assembly and could not be reduced, however a higher number of homes and jobs could be planned for.  The Joint Planning Committee was attempting to do the best it could for West Northamptonshire; and jobs and infrastructure would be vital to the success of the Strategy. 

The Chairman explained that anyone wishing to object to any of the proposals contained in the emergent Joint Core Strategy would need to give reasons to support their objection, for example that the flood risk assessment for a particular area indicated that the land in question was not suitable for the proposed development or that a proper traffic assessment study had not been carried out.  Objections should make reference to and use the evidence base, which had been published on the Internet.  It would also be helpful if such objections also made suggestions as to where the development could go, equally referring to the evidence base, for example that in this location there was no flood risk and that the highways network was suitable to serve the proposed development.  The Chairman commented that these plans would have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

The Chairman called for nominations for the appointment of a Vice-Chairman.

Councillor Sandra Barnes proposed and Councillor Richard Church seconded that Councillor Chris Millar be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Joint Planning Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Chris Millar be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Joint Planning Committee for the ensuing year. 

None.

(Copy attached)

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Planning Committee held on 21 April 2009 were signed by the Chair.

• Personal
• Prejudicial

1.   Councillors Sandra Barnes, Chris Millar and Tony Woods declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as members of the WNDC Board. 

2.      Mr David Dickinson declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as a member of WNDC.

3.   Councillors Sandra Barnes, Stephen Clarke and Tony Woods declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as members of the East Midlands Regional Assembly.

4.   Councillor Andre Gonzales de Savage declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as Vice Chairman of Wootton and East Hunsbury Parish Council.

5.   Councillor Wendy Amos declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as a member of WNDC’s Planning Committee for Daventry.

6.   Councillor P D Varnsverry declared a personal but non-prejudicial interest in Item 7 – Emergent Joint Core Strategy, as being acquainted with one of the speakers.

To consider any issues that the Chairman is of the opinion are Matters of Urgency.

None.

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The Chair reported that Sally Townsend had tabled a question in accordance with the Joint Planning Committee’s Supplementary Procedural Rules, which she then read out as follows:

“Is the JPU confident that the delivery of jobs and infrastructure will happen in support of the dwelling numbers identified in the Joint Core Strategy?  History, experience and evidence show that jobs and infrastructure don’t follow the housing build or is slow in coming forward or in being delivered.  Existing residents need to be confident that the evidence for the needed infrastructure and finance is available for its delivery before more dwellings are built because jobs will not follow and more of the same will happen without commuting and increased traffic.

Are the JPU confident that developers will not state that they can only deliver if the housing is built and then avoid the risk of the developer going into liquidation, as many have already done, leaving dwellings empty and sites not finished?

If these risks are not evaluated and funding put in place to alleviate the shortfall, what will the JPU do to ensure the delivery of the Joint Core Strategy Vision?”

The Chairman commented that the document before the Joint Planning Committee was the Emergent Joint Core Strategy.  Evidence had been and was continuing to be gathered in respect of what infrastructure was required.  This had been referred to consistently throughout the process so far.  Additionally, meetings with the highways authority and Department of Transport had taken place and would continue to do so.  The base line study of public service providers also included the utility providers, the Police, education, health and many of these groups were already sharing their plans to meet the demand that the proposed growth would bring.  The Strategy needed to show how infrastructure could be delivered and it would also identify gaps in funding.  Several parts of the Emergent Joint Core Strategy referred to highways and public transport needs and also referred to the risks involved in delivering the strategy.  The Joint Committee could not control the survival of individual developers but the planning period itself was over 25 years.  The current situation in Daventry with the appeals provided a clear example and a warning of what could happen if a policy framework were not in place. 

Mr David Haywood MBE, on behalf of CLASP, a registered charity interested in the archaeology of West Northamptonshire, commented that the Charity was primarily concerned with investigating the Romano/British history of West Northamptonshire and noted that other periods of history were also richly represented in the area.  He commented that the Strategy should include the digging, recording and preservation of this historic landscape and include what would happen to any finds.  Mr Haywood commented that CLASP would be happy to provide any assistance they could, as they already did for WNDC.  He noted that the document was silent on these matters. 

The Interim Head of the JPU commented that in respect of archaeology, the national guidelines were not considered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(Copy attached)

The Head of Corporate Services for South Northamptonshire Council submitted a report that sought approval to a Financial and Procurement Protocol so as to clarify the arrangements in relation to the operation of the Joint Planning Unit.  He noted that the proposal would put the Protocol and Memorandum of Intent and the proposed service contracting arrangements on a formal contractual footing.  He commented that the respective Section 151 officers and Monitoring Officers of all four councils had been consulted.  The Head of Corporate Services noted that paragraph 16 of the Protocol should be amended by the replacement of “31 May “ by “31 October”. At the suggestion of Councillor Stephen Clarke it was agreed that paragraph 56 of the Protocol should be expanded to make clear that where an audit report contained an assurance level or recommendations that would normally result in reference to an Audit Committee locally, such reference should apply for any JPU related reports.  

RESOLVED: (1) That the Finance and Procurement Protocol as amended and appended to the report be agreed.

                        (2) That the officers of the partner authorities seek approval as quickly as practicable to the completion of a legal agreement incorporating the Protocol, the Memorandum of Intent and agency arrangements to enable South Northamptonshire Council to contract for the relevant services on behalf of all partner authorities.