Issue - meetings

The Principal Planning Officer (Strategic Planning) presented this report to the Committee and reminded Members that the first recommendation had been updated since the agenda had been published.

It was highlighted to the Committee that:

·  Maidstone has had a designated Air Quality Management Area for a number of years supported by an Air Quality Action Plan, which was being updated by means of a draft Low Emissions Strategy.

·  Policy DM6 in the Maidstone Borough Local Plan ensured that adverse air quality impacts which resulted from developments were mitigated.

·  The Local Plan, the Integrated Transport Strategy and the Walking and Cycling Strategy contained positive actions to deliver sustainable transport measures, which would in turn have positive impacts for air quality.

·  At the April meeting of this Committee, officers were instructed to adapt the Kent and Medway Air Quality Partnership’s model Air Quality Planning Guidance for Maidstone’s purposes so that the Committee could approve it for the development management process. The Guidance could be influential in achieving actual mitigation measures to address air quality impacts.

·  At the next meeting of this Committee an Air Quality DPD Scoping document would be presented for consideration.

In response to a question from the Committee, the Principal Planning Officer stated that the reason for the 1 January 2018 implementation date was because it meant that applications which were currently at the pre-application stage could include the guidance and build mitigation measures into their design.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Air Quality Planning Guidance for Maidstone in Appendix 1 be approved so that it may be used as a material consideration for planning purposes and implemented for planning applications validated from 1st January 2018 onwards.

2. That the presentational finalisation of the Guidance be delegated to the Head of Planning & Development.

Voting: Unanimous