Agenda and minutes

To note that Councillor Chris Gibson has been appointed as a member of the Joint Committee on Strategic Planning and Transport to fill the vacancy left by Councillor Alan Clark.

RESOLVED to note the appointment of Councillor Chris Gibson to the existing vacancy.

Councillor Eric Kerry

None.

Minutes of the meeting held 8 September 2017

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 September were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Chris Carter, Transport Strategy, Nottingham City Council, introduced a report providing an update on transport related issues across the Greater Nottingham conurbation, highlighting the following:

(a)  The bid submitted by Nottingham City Council to the National Productivity Investment Fund for contactless  and mobile public transport ticketing in the Robin Hood area was confirmed as successful in October 2017;

(b)  Nottinghamshire County Council has submitted an expression of interest to the Housing Forward Planning fund on behalf of the D2N2 area, this is supported by all 4 of the upper tier authorities. Smaller bids have also been submitted to the Housing Viability fund by individual authorities;

(c)  Nottingham City Council made detailed representations to the consultation on the draft Accessibility Action Plan which was launched in August 2017;

(d)  In the recent Budget Announcements there were various measures announced around taxation of diesel and diesel vehicles aimed to improve air quality and incentivise the use of electric vehicles;

(e)  The most significant measure in the Budget was the £1.7bn “transforming Cities” fund, half of which is to be automatically allocated to combined authorities and the other half available to the remaining authorities through a competitive basis. The emphasis of this fund is linking urban areas with economic centres. The Committee agreed that the linking of East Midlands airport  to the surrounding villages is important to consider;

RESOLVED to note the content of the update report on transport related issues across the Greater Nottingham conurbation.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Matt Gregory, Planning Policy and Research Manager, Nottingham City Council, introduced the report updating the Joint Committee on the work of the Joint Planning Advisory Board (JPAB) highlighting the following:

(a)  Broxtowe Borough Council have written to the Secretary of State on behalf of JPAB regarding the negative impact the cancellation of the electrification of the Midland main line on HS2 Growth Plan. A response has been received, although the JPAB meeting has not yet had sight of the response, it is not believed to be positive;

(b)  Hearing sessions have now closed for both Ashfield and Gedling Local Plans, both Councils are preparing Main Modifications for consultation early in the new year and it is expected that the Councils will adopt the plans in the first half of 2018;

(c)  Gedling Borough Council held a workshop with developers and local planning authorities to better understand the barriers  to housing delivery in the area after a disconnect between planning permission granted and housing delivered fell to below the required level. JPAB will be looking at the information gathered and will consider how to take it forward;

(d)  The Housing and Planning Act 2016 gives the government the power to intervene where an authority does not have a local Plan prepared, 15 authorities have been identified, none within the Greater Nottingham area. This is a significant step and indicates the direction of travel of the government which is backed up in Budget announcements recently, mainly around speeding up housing delivery;

(e)  The Government has set up a panel to look at the disconnect between housing delivery and planning permission granted. There is recognition that planning permission is being granted but that development is not going ahead;

Following discussions and questions from the Committee the following points were made:

(f)  Planning permission is being granted for housing development well in excess of the housing targets however developments are being delayed for a number of different reasons;

(g)  There are a number of different ways that developers could be encouraged to progress developments beyond the granted planning permission stage which can be looked at more closely elsewhere;

(h)  Another option for Councils to consider would be to establish their own building company to build the affordable housing that developers do not tend to build. This model has been successful for a number of authorities across the country;

(i)  The Committee agreed that it was essential that planning authorities look to the need in the area and ensure that the need is met;

RESOLVED to note the contents of the Greater Nottingham Joint Planning Advisory Board Update report.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Stephen Pointer, Team Manager Planning Policy, Nottinghamshire County Council introduced the paper informing the committee of progress with preparing the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Replacement Waste Local Plan and the revised Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  Work on part 2 of the Waste Local plan has been deferred due to demands on the City and County Councils and consultations are due to take place in 2019;

(b)  Work continues on the Mineral Local Plan. Industry and other interested parties are currently being consulted before the draft plan is produced and consultation on that draft will take place in June 2018;

RESOLVED to note the content of the update report on the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Waste Local Plan and Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Note the work Programme for the municipal year 2017/18;

(2)  Request an update on the Air Quality Plan to come to the March Committee meeting; and

(3)  Request an update on the East Midlands Franchise to come to the March Committee meeting.