Agenda item

Report of the Portfolio Holder – Corporate Governance

Councillor Duncan McGregor (Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance) presented a report recommending adoption of the Local Plan for Bolsover District (as attached to the report) as the development plan for Bolsover District.

 

The recommendations in the report were moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Liz Smyth.

 

Councillor Duncan McGregor explained that the proposed Local Plan had gone through the following stages of consultation:

 

a) Initial Consultation on what the Plan should contain (Oct-Nov 2014)

b) Consultation on Preferred Options and Reasonable Alternatives (Oct-Dec 2015)

c) Consultation on the Draft Local Plan for Bolsover District (Oct-Nov 2016)

 

He stated that preparation work culminated in April 2018 when the Council approved its proposed Local Plan for Bolsover District in advance of carrying out further public consultation, before submitting the Local Plan to the Secretary of State for

Examination. These final two steps were then carried out:

 

d) Consultation on Publication Local Plan for Bolsover District (May-June 2018)

e) Submission of the Local Plan for Bolsover District to Secretary of State (Aug

2018)

 

He added that following submission of the Local Plan for Bolsover District in August 2018, Inspector Karen Baker DIPTP MA DIPMP MRTPI was appointed to undertake an independent examination of the Plan. The Local Plan Examination commenced and the Inspector held Hearing Sessions between 21st January and 6th February 2019 with an additional and final session on 12th  March 2019.

 

Inspector Baker concluded that the Local Plan was legally sound and complied with national Planning policy. The Planning Inspectorate issued the Inspector’s Report to the Council on 15th January 2020 with some recommended changes, and these changes were approved by Planning Committee in preparation for the Local Plan being considered by Council.

 

Councillor Duncan McGregor believed this was an important moment for the Council, because the Local Plan would provide certainty in Planning decisions, allocate sites, protect areas from development, and deliver the Council’s Planning objectives for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors. He added that the preparation and public consultation in developing the Plan had been a rigorous exercise, which included a number of public sessions in various places in Bolsover District.

 

Councillor Duncan McGregor stressed that efforts had been made to keep the costs of the process as low as possible, and some approximate estimates of the costs were:

 

a) Evidence-based Legal advice – £238,500

b) Housing – £20,000

c) Employment – £33,000

d) Retail – £9,500

e) Green belt – £20,000

f) Transport – £33,000

g) Viability – £22,000

h) Council advice – £7,000

i) Habitats Regulations Assessment – £94,000

j) Inspectorate and programme officer – £17,000

k) Staffing – £1m

 

He also stated the approximate number of jobs that would be created as a result of the Plan:

 

a) Employment plots – 2,500

b) One-off issues – 1,075

c) General industrial uses – 930

d) Storage and distribution uses – 494

e) Retail, health and leisure – 218

f) Education – 45

 

Councillor Duncan McGregor advised Council of a correspondence exchange with the Government where the Government had stated they would intervene if the Bolsover District Local Plan was delayed. He stated that the Council had responded to the Government by stressing that the Council was already far along with the process.

 

Councillor James Watson was concerned that Members would not be given the appropriate time to speak on the proposals, considering the amount of detail in Councillor Duncan McGregor’s presentation. The Chair assured him that he would allocate time for other Members to speak regardless of this.

 

Councillor Liz Smyth spoke as seconder to the motion, and recognised the hard work that had gone into producing what she felt was a very comprehensive Local Plan.

 

Councillor Allan Bailey spoke and expressed his concerns with the Plan in five areas in relation to Clowne. He felt that:

 

a) The Plan did not include enough farms when considering the impact Brexit could have on Britain having to produce more of its own food.

 

b) Clowne was a 21^st century village with an 18^th century road system, and road infrastructure must be considered in the Plan to a greater extent.

 

c) The Plan did not consider the potential dangers of building on places in Clowne that flood easily (like Harlesthorpe Dam).

 

d) Clowne Parish Council wanted to engage with the Council in producing a Neighbourhood Plan (Neighbourhood Plans are discussed on page 15 of the Local Plan), but the Council refused and then spent £8,000 on what could have been an unnecessary Housing Needs Assessment.

 

e) The Plan had not considered the increase in pollution in Clowne that the Local Plan’s additional housing would create.

 

Councillor Ross Walker spoke and expressed his concern that the Plan included mention of major development in Clowne North, but did not appear to include specific detail beyond this, like provisions for schools or social housing.

 

Councillor Duncan McGregor responded by stating that the Local Plan had its focus on Bolsover District as a whole, as opposed to one area. He assured Members that if any development proposed in the Plan was pursued, the Members representing the relevant area would be heavily involved. He requested that the Head of Planning speak to provide further detail.

 

The Head of Planning explained that the Planning Inspectorate found the proposed Plan to be legally sound and sustainable. He added that the Plan included District-wide provisions for schools and affordable social housing.

 

Councillor Peter Roberts spoke and asked how the Council would calculate required school places for new developments. The Chair advised him that Derbyshire County Council had a formula for calculating required school places that they applied to all new developments in the County.

 

Councillor James Watson spoke on the Plan and complimented the officers involved for their hard work in drawing up the proposed Plan. He believed the Local Plan was not worth the paper it was written on if the guidelines within it were not implemented or followed correctly, and gave two examples of this already happening:

 

a) The Wincobank Farm land for development in South Normanton application

 

b) The Glapwell application

 

Councillor James Watson was concerned that the advice within the Local Plan was not followed in these two Planning applications, and this could mean that similar situations occur when the Local Plan is approved.

 

The Chair informed Councillor James Watson that this agenda item was for discussion of the Local Plan rather than individual Planning applications. In addition, he advised that the Local Plan had always been referred to as the ‘emerging Local Plan’ in past Planning Committee meetings, meaning that the Local Plan was only advisory at that point because it had not yet been completed or approved.

 

Councillor James Watson acknowledged the Chair’s point, but believed that an ‘emerging’ Local Plan should still be considered at Planning Committee regardless of its state of completion. He added that the emerging Local Plan not being honoured made him concerned that the same would happen with the approved Local Plan, and he could not vote in favour of the proposal as a result.

 

The Chair informed Members that if the proposed Local Plan was approved, it would remain under regular review in line with Government policies and would not be set in stone.

 

Councillor Allan Bailey, Councillor Ross Walker and Councillor James Watson requested that a recorded vote be taken. The Chair put the report recommendations to the vote and advised that a recorded vote would be taken as the threshold of three Members had been met.

 

For the motion – 24 

 

(Councillors Derek Adams, Rose Bowler, Jane Bryson, Dexter Bullock, Anne Clarke, Nick Clarke, Jim Clifton, Paul Cooper, Mary Dooley, David Downes, Steve Fritchley, Ray Heffer, Andrew Joesbury, Chris Kane, Duncan McGregor, Clive Moesby, Tom Munro, Evonne Parkin, Graham Parkin, Sandra Peake, Liz Smyth, Janet Tait, Deborah Watson and Jen Wilson.)

 

Against the motion – 6

 

(Councillors Allan Bailey, Tracey Cannon, Natalie Hoy, Peter Roberts, Ross Walker and James Watson.)

 

Abstentions – 3

 

(Councillors David Dixon, Maxine Dixon and Dan Salt.)

 

On being put to a recorded vote it was RESOLVED that;

 

(1) Council adopts the Local Plan for Bolsover District (see Appendix A) as the development plan for Bolsover District and that it replaces the Bolsover District Local Plan (February 2000) and the saved policies within it;

 

(2) Council approves the updated Policies Map (see Appendix B) which illustrates geographically the application of the policies in the adopted development plan.

(Joint Strategic Director – Place)