Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence that have been received will be noted at this stage.

The Chairman will announce any late items that due to special circumstances will be considered under Agenda Item 7.

The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and read out the emergency evacuation notice.

Apologies were received from Cllr Corfield, Sharp and Todhunter

There were no late items.

Details of members’ other interests arising from their membership of parish councils or West Sussex County Council or from their being Chichester District Council or West Sussex County Council appointees to outside organisations or members of outside bodies or from being employees of such organisations or bodies. Such interests are hereby disclosed by each member in respect of agenda items where the Council or outside body concerned has been consulted in respect of that item.

Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, other interests and prejudicial interests are to be made by members of the Development Plan & Infrastructure Panel (DPIP) in respect of matters on the agenda or this meeting

No declarations of interest were raised.

The minutes relate to the meeting of the Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel on 14 February 2024 (to follow).

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2024 would be carried forward to the next meeting.

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel are asked to consider the attached report and make the proposed recommendations.

Mrs Ferrier presented the report.

Mrs Ferrier informed the Panel that during the monitoring year the neighbourhood plan for West Wittering was made and a referendum for the modified Southbourne Neighbourhood Plan was held on 25 January 2024. She went through the policy indicators (set out from page 7) and highlighted some of the key headlines, including the amount of employment space completed during the monitoring period and the number of housing completions.

In addition, Mrs Ferrier informed the Panel there had been a late submission from Westbourne Parish Neighbourhood Plan which she proposed be included as part of the Authority Monitoring Report.

Officers responded to comments and questions as follows;

Mrs Ferrier clarified the period covered by report and explained the statistical data used in producing the report was in line with the financial year.

Mr Whitty confirmed windfall development was considered when calculating future housing delivery projections.

Mr Whitty informed the Panel the Authority’s Monitoring Reporting was a legal requirement which must be produced by the Council. Once approved the report is uploaded onto the Council’s public website. Much of the information is used to support other issues.

Mrs Potts agreed further paragraphs could be included within the report to clarify the relationship between table 10 & 11 and; 12 & 13.

Mrs Ferrier explained that ‘non retail’ (as referred to under the Economy indicator) meant any retail space with a non-A1 use class, for example banks and building societies.

Mr Whitty provided further information concerning the issues around affordable housing delivery (paragraph 8.29, page 58); the issue of ‘additionality’ where additional units are secured outside the Section 106 agreement and associated funding issues by Homes England.

 Following a vote, the Panel agreed to support the report recommendation as set out at paragraph 2.1 and 2.2, along with the inclusion of the Westbourne Neighbourhood Plan.

Resolved;

That the Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel notes the Authority’s Monitoring Report 2022-2023.

That the Director of Planning and the Environment be authorised, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, to make any minor amendments to the Authority’s Monitoring Report prior to its publication.

*Cllr Moss joined the meeting at the start of this item.

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel are asked to consider the attached report and make the proposed recommendation.

Mrs Owen presented the report and detailed the proposal.

Officers responded to questions and comments as follows;

Mrs Owen acknowledged members’ concerns of land being taken out of agriculture within the district but delivering mitigation for development outside the district.  It was noted that mitigation must be in the same catchment as the development. A concern was also raised about the effective monitoring of sites outside of the plan area (such as in the South Downs National Park) that provide mitigation for development within the plan area. She assured the Panel that monitoring agreements are in place with the other relevant authority for all such schemes.; Strategic Planning were currently working on identifying suitable land in the Chichester Plan Area.

Mrs Owen confirmed Chichester Harbour Conservancy were supportive, particularly of schemes such as the restoration of saltmarshes.

Mrs Owen assured members that any proposed scheme would need to be approved by Natural England to ensure they would deliver the proposed mitigation.

Mrs Owen explained the mitigation options being considered were currently high-level strategic proposals which would be brought together as part of the bid, which was expected to open shortly with a deadline of up to eight weeks.

Mrs Owen confirmed hydrological assessments were completed for each project, the assessments considered where the mitigation site was and the length of time it would take to deliver mitigation within the Harbour.

Following a vote, the Development and Infrastructure Panel agreed to support the report recommendation.

Resolved; That DPIP recommends to Cabinet that the Director of Planning and Environment be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, to work with the PfSH Strategic Environmental Planning team to prepare a bid to Round 2 of the Nutrient Mitigation Fund, for submission by Fareham Borough Council as lead authority for the wider Solent nutrient sensitive catchment area.

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel are requested to note any items for the next meeting

Mr Whitty informed the Panel that the meeting on 13 March 2024 would be cancelled; the next meeting would be on Wednesday 10 April 2024.

The following items would be discussed at the meeting;

-       The remaining proposed modifications

-       An update on the Local Plan Progression to Submission

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel will consider any late items as announced by the Chairman under agenda item 1.

There were no late items.

The Panel is asked to consider in respect of the following item(s) whether the public interest including the press should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption under Parts I to 7 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as indicated against the item and because, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The reports dealt with under this part of the agenda are attached for members and senior officers only (salmon paper).

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The Chairman proposed the Panel move into Part 2 to consider the following items – Agenda Item 9 Updated Draft Statement of Consultation following Regulation 19 consultation on Proposed Submission Chichester Local Plan 2021 - 2039 and Agenda Item 10 – Verbal Update of the Local Plan Progression to Submission.

He asked them to consider whether the public interest including the press should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption by virtue of paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) of Part 1 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, because, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Cllr Moss seconded the proposal.

Following a vote, the Panel agreed to support the Chairman’s proposal.

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel are asked to consider the attached Part II exempt report and appendix and make the proposed recommendation.

The minutes for this item are restricted.

The Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel are asked to note the Part II verbal update.

The minutes for this item are restricted.