Agenda item

Question to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee

Councillor J Sams asked the following question of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee:

A decision was made at the meeting last week not to make the setting of the AONB a landscape of local value. In the spirit of transparency, can I ask after the agenda was sent out for that meeting, who, when and why was the decision made to put this to the committee in the urgent update report given to Councillors and seen by residents on the night of the meeting?

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee replied that:

The Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee agenda of 8September included a report seeking amendments to the countryside policy of the emerging Local Plan, expressly referring to Landscapes of Local Value.  Following publication of the agenda, on 2 September Committee Members undertook site visits with Officers in order to review some of the landscapes, including the setting of the AONB.  As a result of deliberations during the site visit, an urgent update report was prepared for the 8 September meeting, clearly setting out the reasons as to why it was not necessary to designate the setting of the AONB as a Landscape of Local Value.  At the meeting the Head of Planning and Development apologised for the late changes in the report recommendation; and I asked the Committee Members if they were happy to accept the urgent update and gave adequate time for them to read the update before the agenda item was discussed.  I am happy that correct procedures were followed.  I also believe that it is better to have more information before Members than less.  The earlier report was there still with its considerations; the update did not force a different decision.  The whole topic was fully debated.

Councillor J Sams asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee:

Following the call-in of the decision of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee, how can we ensure that all of the information available after the agendas have been printed is included in appendices and sent out and that the urgent update is used for precisely that purpose?

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee replied that:

I am not sure about the status of the referral of that decision currently, but I would very much hope that should it be going ahead, the accompanying report is as full as possible.  I do think that Members should actively seek time with Officers to find out information in a proactive manner and I would discourage all of us from thinking that we should only be making decisions on the basis of what appears in reports; we should expand our thinking and investigations as much as possible.  The very nature of the Local Plan timescale at the moment does put us under certain pressure.  We have to get the necessary business transacted and decisions made if we are to stand a chance of being successful with the Local Plan next year and of bringing to the Borough the protection it gives and the control back to the Council in planning matters.