Agenda for Joint Committee on Strategic Planning and Transport on Friday, 11th March, 2022, 10.30 am

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions

Contact: Phil Wye  0115 8764637

Items
No. Item

31.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Councillor Rosemary Healy – on leave

Councillor Sally Longford – unwell

32.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

None.

33.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 317 KB

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 10 December 2021.

Minutes:

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2021 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

34.

Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Waste Local Plan pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Minutes:

Stephen Pointer, Team Manager Planning Policy, Nottinghamshire County Council, presented the report informing the Committee of progress with preparing the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Waste Local Plan’ highlighting the following:

 

(a)  an online “ Waste Summit” was held on Friday 11th February to highlight the publication of the Draft Waste Plan. This was attended by around 50 people representing Councils, District Councils, adjoining planning authorities, representatives of the commercial waste sector and other interested parties;

(b)  all comments in the consultation will be considered carefully, and the Plan will then be further amended as needed before being formally published for final  representations to be made. This is expected later in 2022 and in Spring 2023 the Plan will be submitted for independent examination before being adopted by each Council, currently scheduled for later in 2023;

(c)  following a request from the Committee to visit the Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Ashfield District to see and discuss how packaging is managed, a visit has been organised in April.

 

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

 

(d)  any planned development at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station site should be encouraged to make use of the hot water generated for heating or energy generation. The plans are at an early stage;

(e)  the Plan has a provision for a maximum of waste going to landfill, but this could perhaps be even more ambitious with increased recycling and new technologies;

(f)   anaerobic digestion should be expanded as a way of recycling food waste. The upcoming Environment Act should include provisions for this.

 

Resolved to

 

(1)  note progress on the production of the Waste Local Plan;

(2)  prepare a letter to be sent to Uniper and the Chair of the Planning Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council with the concerns that this Committee has around the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plans.

35.

Transport Update pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Additional documents:

Minutes:

James Ashton, Transport Strategy Manager, presented the report and highlighted the following:

 

(a)  car travel has recovered to pre-covid levels more quickly than other modes transport general traffic levels are now at 90% of normal. Bus patronage rose slowly throughout 2021 and stabilised during the autumn of 2021 at around 75- 80% of normal, and tram patronage stabilised at around 60% of normal throughout the latter part of 2021;

(b)  Wind Mobility Ltd (Wind) announced an upgrade of its e-scooter fleet in Nottingham and Derby, as part of a new package of measures to meet the city council’s improvement plan, replacing its original model with the LINK e-scooter from Superpedestrian. The deployment of LINK e-scooters is part of a £3m investment by Superpedestrian designed to help Wind address the most common complaints seen in the e-scooter trial so far, including pavement riding, incorrect parking, damaged e-scooters and safety concerns for people with visual impairments;

(c)  regular in-person training schemes, and online training have been introduced as part of the agreed Action Plan, along with increased fines.  E-scooter patrollers have been rebranded Compliance Officers and will focus more intensively on engaging with pavement riders and a Community Manager will be appointed to engage with grass roots reps and local issues. The operator’s performance will be monitored at monthly performance meetings;

(d)  School Streets have been introduced at eleven schools as part of the Active Travel Fund program. A number of surveys are being carried out with local residents and parents to provide feedback on the schemes, such as awareness of schemes, benefits of schemes, any additional measures needed and mode of travel to school for children before and after the schemes were introduced.

 

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

 

(e)  there is a problem with private e-scooters which are not regulated in the same way as the Wind scooters, and are actually illegal to drive on public highways. The previous fleet of e-scooters has been shipped to other countries for further use;

(f)  the number of accidents caused by e-scooters is actually very low compared to the number of vehicles, but there is a public perception that they are dangerous and other pedestrians must feel safe around them;

(g)  some cycle routes in the county area do not seem necessary where the road is safe to cycle on without them being segregated. However, the routes must be of a certain standard to receive funding from the Department for Transport.

 

Resolved to note the contents of the report

36.

Joint Planning Advisory Board Update pdf icon PDF 173 KB

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Minutes:

Matt Gregory, Head of Planning Strategy and Building Control, presented the report on the work of the Joint Planning Advisory Board, and other strategic planning matters within the remit of the Committee.

 

Further details of Planning Reform are anticipated in spring 2022. Although the Government has now published the Integrated Rail Plan confirming an HS2 station at Ratcliffe upon Soar, there are many details which still need clarification.

 

Resolved to note the contents of the report.

37.

Levelling Up White Paper pdf icon PDF 291 KB

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Minutes:

Matt Gregory. Head of Planning Strategy and Building Control, presented the report on the Levelling Up White Paper which was published by the Government on 2nd February 2022. The White Paper seeks to address regional disparities and contains a number of focus areas including living standards, transport infrastructure, education and skills, housing and local leadership. Mr Gregory delivered a presentation to the Committee and highlighted the following:

 

(a)  the first nine areas invited to begin negotiations for county deals for devolution include Nottinghamshire and Nottingham. There are 3 tiers of possible devolution with tier 3, a single institution or County Council with a directly elected mayor across a functional economic area or whole county area, being the Government’s preferred option;

(b)  the White Paper states that local communities will continue to have a meaningful say on individual planning applications and that local plans will be made simpler and shorter. There is a push for more Neighbourhood Plans, especially in urban areas;

(c)  the government will support transformational developments in the 20 areas of the country taking part in its regeneration programme. It is unknown if this will include Nottingham or Nottinghamshire;

(d)  funding for housing delivery is to be focused on brownfield sites and away from London and the wider south east, which is long overdue as it is sites in the midlands and north that experience the most challenges in terms of development viability.

 

The following points were made during the discussion which followed:

 

(e)  there are variable amounts of Neighbourhood Plans across the county, with Bassetlaw having the most. They do not override District Council plans but can give further options and detail such as the location of new housing. They have not been effective in urban areas to date as the options for development sites are narrower;

(f)  there is no specific reference to climate change or environmental issues in the White Paper. It is important that planning authorities be given the powers to insist on higher environmental standards from developers.

 

Resolved to note the contents of the report.

38.

Joint Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Minutes:

Resolved to note the work programme.