Minutes:
(Membership - Liz Cordle, Edmund Hopkins, Margaret Knowles, Dave Mackrory, Hugh McClintock, Steve Rhodes, Giselle Sterry, and Ken Weise – with assistance from Ian Bussey)
Margaret Knowles, Chris Thompson, Dave Mackrory and Ian Bussey provided the following update with comments from Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis:
a) a face-to-face meeting was held which included discussions on cycle parking standards, the Carbon Neutral Review Panel (CNRP), Stopping up Orders and the capacity of the group to deal with the amount of potential work;
b) the group will continue to observe the cycle parking standards as set out within the local plan, but also refer to the Department for Transport; Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/20, which advises additional standards and good practice;
c) the group will continue to examine the examples of good practice from other Local Authorities;
d) 2 stopping up orders are being considered for developments at Padstow and Ridgeway. There is no objection from the group regarding the Ridgeway, but with regard to development on the Padstow School site, work is ongoing by Dave Mackrory;
e) Dave Mackrory elaborated on his work so far regarding the development proposed for the Padstow school site, noting that the draft order has been published with an objection deadline of 28 July 2022. It could be queried if all existing routes across the site have been identified but there are potentially new routes to be established across the site but it’s not clear which roads will be put forward for adoption and therefore becoming automatic public routes. As such there is no guarantee that the connectivity across the site would be maintained and link with other existing RoW, particularly to the western boundary. Proposed comments have only just been circulated to the Planning subgroup members, but feedback is requested, after which Dave intends to respond;
f) the group has queried that given the capacity of the group and the potential amount of work involved, consideration of stopping up orders may sit better with another subgroup;
g) additional support from existing members would be welcomed, particularly from those with experience of planning, and hopefully some of the new recruits to the forum over this summer;
h) almost 500 applications have been screened and 15 application have been commented on;
i) the most common issue being the lack of adequate cycle parking, but one particular comment expressed concern on the Clifton West proposal, adjacent to Clifton Woods, and Hawksley Gardens, off Yew Tree Avenue, at the lack of acknowledgement to linking with the existing adjacent public bridleway and wider RoW network;
j) the Local Plan now appears outdated as it places a priority for motor vehicles above sustainable cycle and pedestrian travel and lacks detail. In addition there is discrepancy against the new guidance issued by the DfT’ Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/20;
k) with regard to cycle parking and the discrepancy between the standards of the Local Plan and the more ambitious standards of the DfT LTN 1/20, it should be noted that ‘Active Travel England’, which should be established by the end of the year, has been tasked to ensure that LAs work to the higher standards, particularly for larger schemes, which will then be vital for securing future funding. It is suggested that Chris Boardman, the Active Travel England Commissioner, is invited to speak to the LAF at a future meeting;
l) members of the Forum understood that Planning Officers had to comply to the requirements of Planning Policy and that trying to enforce the guidance of LTN 1/20 could result in a formal legal challenge from developers, therefore, either the Planning Policy needs to change or a supplementary planning document needs to be issued to support the LTN1/20, otherwise the document won’t be effective. The guidance verses policy issue needs raising, ideally with Chris Boardman;
m) Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis informed the Forum that:
i. the Council supports sustainable travel and the carbon neutral ambition for 2028 so there is potential for cycle parking to be included in the Carbon Neutral Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) but this can’t be guaranteed;
ii. a Planning Guidance checklist has been put together as an advisory document for developers and specifically refers to sustainable transport including asking how many cycle parking spaces, cycle charging points the development will provide, along with consideration of connectivity to local RoW. This ensures that developers are aware of City Council aspirations and also if the Planning Committee ask for sustainability details, the information can easily be provided. (Members of the Planning Subgroup welcomed the offer to be provided with a copy of the checklist);
iii. feedback would be welcomed from the Planning Subgroup on application comments and points which can be raised and progressed with the Planning Department, including specific responses to planning permission consultations. However, whilst there is a desire to raise standards of cycle parking, the LTN 1/20 can only be considered as guidance at this point until supported by policy, but officers will be asked to encourage developers to consider appropriate cycle parking provision;
iv. a reduced version of the ‘Future Housing Standards 2025’ was issued 15 June 2022 with a 12 month grace period prior to full implementation. It includes ambition for increased charging points, and as a whole, supports Central Government’s ambition for working towards net zero by 2050. Councillor Kotsonis is happy to feed back to the Forum with any updates;
n) the Forum could have a place on the CNRP but the exact configuration is yet to be clarified but it is possible that attendance would be on an individual basis depending on who was most suitable to comment on the application in question. Capacity of the Planning Subgroup to undertake this work would be reviewed following the recruitment exercise.