Interviews with Councillor Christopher Garland, Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Paine, Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and Development and Rob Jarman, Head of Planning.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Garland, Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Paine, Cabinet Member for Planning, transport and Development and Rob Jarman, Head of Planning to the meeting.

The Committee were told that the evidence base was key in gaining a decision on the Core Strategy and that out of the twelve strategies that have been presented to the inspector only one had passed. It was explained to the Committee that this was the reason for the move from an aspiration strategy to a realistic strategy.

The importance of a decision being made in March was discussed and the Committee were reminded that the Council had not allocated any land in the last 15 years which left them without a five year land supply and therefore vulnerable to application in areas that the Council may not wish to develop. The committee noted that this was a real danger to the envisioned development of the borough.  

The Committee were informed that there was now a local plan which was an amalgamation of the core strategy and the search for sites, with a new timeframe of 2011-2031. The reason for the timeframe change was because the DCLG 2010 demographic estimates were different to the 2008 data on which is what we had been working towards. For Local Plan the 10,000 jobs figure had been removed due to a lack of control and reverted back to employment floor space.

In response to a question it was clarified that junction 8 was strategic location rather then a specific site in the plan as there was no overarching need to release it. It was noted that the time period where full weight could be given to policies adopted since 2004 was about to close and from then on the NPPF takes precedence.  

The Committee raised concerns over the proposed bus lane and other transport measures in the Local Plan. The Committee were told that there were no funds for new roads and that a demand management approach was being proposed, this means making better use of the existing roads and encouraging public transport. The proposed bus land was expected to cut the journey time for both public transport users and car users. The Committee considered that they needed more information on the transport measures being proposed and requested that they receive a presentation on these measures prior to the Cabinet meeting on 13March. It was also agreed by the Committee that all members should familiarise themselves with the papers for Cabinet on 13 March.  

There was some discussion around the possibility of the Leeds/Langley bypass and rumoured costs of this project following an article in the local press. The Officers did not have evidence to support the figures rumoured and the Committee requested that Councillor Paine contact his counterpart at KCC in order to seek clarification on the costs of this project.  

Resolved:

a)  That the Regeneration & Economic Development Overview & Scrutiny receive a presentation on the transport measures as set out in the Local Plan prior to the decision being made on 13^th March;

b)  That the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and Development contact his counterpart at Kent County Council to clarify the costs of a Leeds/Langley bypass, reporting back to the Committee;

c)  That all members familiarise themselves with the papers for Cabinet on March 13 2013; and

d)  That in recognition of the danger of premature applications for significant housing development that the options be given top priority and that members are engaged in the forming of this policy.

Meeting Closed 20:36