Issue - meetings

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report with its two appendices and to make the following resolutions:

That the South Downs National Park Authority be advised:

(1)  That the South Downs Local Plan Pre-Submission is broadly supported.

(2)  That Chichester District Council does not intend to make any formal representations in response to the Pre-Submission consultation.

(3)  That the comments in appendix 1 to the agenda report will be forwarded for its consideration with regard to possible modifications to the Pre-Submission Local Plan.

RESOLVED

That the South Downs National Park Authority be advised:

(1)  That the South Downs Local Plan Pre-Submission is broadly supported.

(2)  That Chichester District Council does not intend to make any formal representations in response to the Pre-Submission consultation.

(3)  That the comments in appendix 1 to the agenda report will be forwarded for its consideration with regard to possible modifications to the Pre-Submission Local Plan.

The Cabinet considered the agenda report with its two appendices.

Mrs Taylor introduced the report.

Mr Davidson and Mr Allgrove were in attendance for this item.

Mrs Taylor explained that the report was to agree CDC’s formal response to the Pre-Submission consultation of the South Downs National Park Authority’s (SDNPA) draft Local Plan (LP) which had been subject to consultation for an eight-week period which was due to end on 21 November 2017. The focus of the current consultation was whether the LP was sound and whether it met legal and procedural requirements. At present the SDNPA was subject to all the saved Local Plan policies within the SDNP including those of the Chichester District Local Plan 1999. Work had been in progress on the LP for a number of years and officers had responded to two previous consultations in 2014 and 2015. Many of those recommendations had been accepted and incorporated into the current draft LP, which set out the planning framework for the SDNP for 2014-2033. 

Unlike the Chichester Local Plan which was development-led, the SDNPA LP was landscape-led. Officers had not identified any major concerns relating to the draft LP’s soundness and so did not propose making any formal representations to the SDNPA. However, a number of minor issues had been identified and modifications suggested, which were set out in appendix 1. Inaccuracies in the housing figures, for example, had been discussed with the SDNPA, which had informally amended the housing figures in appendix 2. The projected delivery in that appendix equated to an average housing delivery of 84 net dwellings per year for Chichester District over the LP period, which exceeded the target of 70 homes per year that had been previously assumed for the SDNP within Chichester District. In accordance with The National Parks Vision and Circular (2010), there was a strong focus on the delivery of affordable housing. No target was set for affordable housing but on sites of 11 or more homes there would have to be a minimum of 50% affordable housing with a minimum 75% affordable rent, whereas on sites of three to ten homes a sliding scale would apply. There could be practical difficulties with very small sites and a modification from four to ten had been suggested. SD 27 was a new policy which specified a broad mix of housing for both affordable and private dwellings. Further clarification of this policy had been requested. It had been agreed that, as contended by officers in their response to the previous Preferred Options consultation, (a) potential loss of employment land to residential use should only be after evidence had been provided that there was no market demand for that employment land and (b) there should be a marketing period of at least 12 months or, in the case of key employment land, 18 months. Officers had suggested that the 18-month marketing period should apply to tourist accommodation. After the end of the consultation, the formal examination  ...  view the full minutes text for item 434