Agenda item

The Council to consider any recommendations arising from the extraordinary Cabinet meeting to be held on 30 January 2019.  The agenda, report and appendices for this meeting can be viewed via the following link:

http://havant.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=128&MId=10791

Councillor Turner presented the recommendation from Cabinet.  She thanked the officers involved in producing the document and stated that it was important that it be approved to meet the needs of the Borough and support the Regeneration Strategy that had been unanimously approved by Council.  She understood and shared some concerns, however development was inevitable, and the choice was between ad-hoc development or higher quality planned development, which was only achievable with an up-to-date local plan.

Council received the following deputations:

·         Mr Lyons (on behalf of Alison Jackson)

·         Mr Lyons (on behalf of Portsmouth Water)

·         Mr Tate (on behalf of Bedhampton residents)

·         Mr Graham

·         Mr Harbottle (on behalf of the landowner of land north of Long Copse Lane)

·         Cllr Hitchcock (Westbourne Parish Council)

·         Mr Ashe (on behalf of Emsworth Residents Association)

·         Mr Montgomery (on behalf of Long Copse Lane Action Group)

·         Cllr Fairhurst (Hampshire County Council)

·         Ms Skennerton (on behalf of Hayling Island Residents Association)

·         Mr Palmer (on behalf of Save Hayling Island Group)

·         Mr Parham (on behalf of Save Our Island)

·         Mr Oliver

·         Mr Norton (on behalf of Havant Borough Residents’ Alliance)

Cllr Turner proposed the Cabinet recommendation.

This motion was duly seconded by Cllr Pike.

Cllr Kennett spoke, concerned about the inclusion of H8, land north of Long Copse Lane as an allocated site within the Local Plan. 

Cllr Kennet proposed the following amendment to the Cabinet recommendation (additional text in italics):

“a) Approves the publication of the Pre-Submission Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 (appendix 1) omitting site H8, land north of Long Copse Lane.”

This amendment was duly seconded by Cllr Cresswell.

Following a vote this amendment was declared LOST, 12 Councillors voting for the amendment, 17 Councillors voting against the amendment and 2 Councillors abstaining from voting.

The Mayor then invited Councillors to debate the recommendation.

Councillors emphasised the difficulty of the decision, as the allocations contained a number of contentious sites that some councillors did not support.  However, under the NPPF there was a presumption in favour of allocating any sustainable site and it had to be borne in mind that the Local Plan centred around providing much needed homes.  Assurance was given that infrastructure would be in place and that the Local Plan complimented the Regeneration Strategy for the Borough.

Councillors highlighted the consultation that had taken place to date and reminded residents that the plan would be subject to a further round of public consultation and the Planning Inspector’s examination would also be held in public.  Additionally, each planning application that came forward would need to be determined on its own merits by the Development Management Committee.

As proposed by Councillor Turner and seconded by Pike, it was unanimously

RESOLVED that Council:

a) Approves the publication of the Pre-Submission Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 (Appendix 1);

b) Approves the consultation on the Pre-Submission Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 from 4th February 2019 to 18th March 2019;

c) Approves the revocation of the Local Plan Housing Statement;

d) Notes the Borough’s five year housing land supply position as of January 2019 (available at http://www.havant.gov.uk/localplan/evidence-base);

e) Notes that on publication, the Pre-Submission Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 would have planning weight and is a material consideration in decision making;

f) Notes the publication of the proposed submission documents (the Sustainability Appraisal, the Policies Map, the Consultation Statement, evidence base);

g) Approves the Local Development Scheme (January 2019) for publication (Appendix 2);

h) Delegates authority to the Planning Policy Manager to prepare a report, which forms is one of the required documents to submit to the Secretary of State, noting the number of representations made through the Pre-Submission consultation (recommendation b) and a summary of the main issues raised;

i) Agrees in principle to enter a deed of variation of the legal agreement between the Council and the landowners of land covered by KP5 ‘Southleigh’, subject to Cabinet approval on the final wording of such variation;

j) Approves the submission of the Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 and the necessary supporting documents to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government following the consultation (recommendation b);

k) Makes representations through the Council Leader and the Cabinet Lead for Communities, Development and Housing to local MPs, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Homes England, Hampshire County Council and the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership regarding the urgent need for infrastructure delivery alongside new development;

l) Delegates authority to the Director of Regeneration and Place to prepare and submit bids to available funding streams regarding infrastructure provision and other measures intended to support the delivery of the Havant Borough Local Plan 2036;

m) Delegates authority to the Planning Policy Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead for Communities, Development and Housing, to make any necessary amendments to the documents listed above. These shall be limited to the inclusion of a contents page and page numbers, factual updates, correction of minor errors, typographical errors and other minor changes that do change the meaning of the material; and

n) Delegates authority to the Planning Policy Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead for Communities, Development and Housing, to publish version two of the Hayling Island and Mainland Transport Assessments, in order to clarify the mitigation packages needed to accommodate development, prior to the submission of the Havant Borough Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.