Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote Meeting - The public proceedings of the meeting will be broadcast live and recorded for playback on the Maidstone Borough Council website.

Contact: Committee Services  01622 602899

Items
No. Item

245.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies.

246.

Notification of Substitute Members

Minutes:

There were no Substitute Members.

247.

Urgent Items

Minutes:

As the agenda for this Committee meeting had been published on 10 November 2020, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2020 were not ready for publication. The Minutes had been published within an amended agenda. 

 

The Committee were informed that Item 17 – Motion – Anti-Idling would be taken after Item 15 – Petition – Housebuilding Targets and Infrastructure, to further accommodate the additional Councillor and Officer present for the item.

248.

Notification of Visiting Members

Minutes:

Councillor Adkinson was present as a Visiting Member for Item 17 – Motion – Anti-Idling.

 

Councillors J and T Sams were present as Visiting Members for Item 15 – Petition – Housebuilding Targets and Infrastructure and Item 16 – Local Plan Review Regulation 18 Preferred Approaches Public Consultation Update.

249.

Disclosures by Members and Officers

Minutes:

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

250.

Disclosures of Lobbying

Minutes:

All Members had been lobbied on:

 

Item 15 – Petition – Housebuilding Targets and Infrastructure

Item 16 – Local Plan Review Regulation 18 Preferred Approaches Public Consultation Update

 

Councillor Mrs Grigg had also been lobbied on Item 14 – Objections to Traffic Regulation Orders.

 

Councillors English and McKay had also been lobbied on Item 17 – Motion – Anti-Idling.

251.

EXEMPT ITEMS

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public as proposed.

252.

Minutes of the Meeting Held on 9 November 2020 pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2020 be approved as a correct record and signed at a later date.

253.

Presentation of Petitions

Minutes:

There were no petitions.

254.

Question and Answer Session for Members of the Public

Minutes:

There were six questions from members of the public.

 

Question from Ms Geraldine Brown to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee

 

‘We note in the paper for Agenda Item 16 that Regulation 18 consultation is proposed to run from 1 to 22 December. Given the immense time pressures to prepare for Regulation 19, what plans do MBC have in place to ensure that work on the input continues intensively throughout the extended holiday period?’

 

The Chairman responded to the question

 

Ms Brown asked the following supplementary question:

 

‘Do you have a timescale by which the appraisal of the consultation responses will be completed?’

 

The Chairman responded to the supplementary question.

 

Question from Mr John Horne to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee

 

‘As evidenced by negative effects stated in the published Sustainability Analysis, why are constraints, such as water (both supply and disposal), not deployed to reduce the assessed Housing Needs figure to a lower, perhaps much lower, Housing Target?’

 

The Chairman responded to the question.

 

Mr Horne asked the following supplementary question:

 

‘In Hampshire, the concerns of Natural England and the environment agency has resulted in a ceiling on water usage for new builds. As we in Maidstone rely, to a large extent on imported water, will the supply of water now be re-examined with a view to an application possible of constraints on overall development?’

 

The Chairman responded to the supplementary question.

 

Question from Mr John Hughes to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee

 

‘Duty to Cooperate – when will we actually see clear documentary evidence of its exercise to-date, suitably redacted as confidentiality dictates?’

 

The Chairman responded to the question.

 

Mr Hughes asked the following supplementary question:

 

‘As infrastructure such as transport or water are major strategic issues for the Local Plan Review and as Maidstone is committed to give detailed consideration to the Leeds-Langley relief road in the Local Plan Review, and given the potential impact of Brexit and Covid-19 on infrastructure provers workloads, are they committed to making their key inputs by March-April 2021, to allow proper consideration by Officers and Members before the Local Plan Review consultation in June, so that Maidstone will not fail the duty to co-operate test as its examination?’

 

The Chairman responded to the supplementary question.

 

Question from Mr Peter Titchener to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee

 

‘At your last SPI meeting, it was declared that Gypsy & Traveller sites would be carried forward in a separate planning document. We were assured that the same strict sustainability criteria and, presumably, prior classification into red and green, would be applied as they have been for dwellings for the settled community. Assuming proper consultation, that document may not be ready for Regulation 19 submission at the same time as the rest of the Local Plan Review and, if that were the case, a separate Regulation 19 submission and a separate Examination would presumably be required. That G&T document may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 254.

255.

Questions from Members to the Chairman

Minutes:

There were no questions from Members to the Chairman.

256.

Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 123 KB

Minutes:

The Committee was informed that the Chair and Vice-Chair had requested a report on the protocol used for the duty to cooperate. This would be presented in January 2021.

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee Work Programme be noted.

 

257.

Reports of Outside Bodies

Minutes:

There were no reports of Outside Bodies.

258.

Objections to Traffic Regulation Orders pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Operations Engineer introduced the report and noted that it had been presented to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board on 14 October 2020, with support given for the proposal.

 

Restrictions had been advertised in 14 locations with representations received for Loose Road and Northdown Close. The Council had previously been petitioned by the residents of Northdown Close to introduce parking restrictions, with 30 of the 39 residents supportive of the proposal. 14 representations had been received in support of the recommendations. Seven objections were received on the basis that the restrictions would negatively impact residents, visitors and cause vehicle dispersion into the surrounding roads.

 

The Operations Engineer confirmed that the restrictions proposed were as minimal as feasible to reduce disruption, with a survey for further restrictions to be considered if necessary.

 

In response to questions, it was confirmed that other roads in the local area had the same or similar restrictions in place with enforcement officers frequenting the area.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

1.  The proposed parking regulations for Northdown Close proceed; and

 

2.  The objectors be informed of the outcome and Kent County Council, as the Highway Authority, be recommended to make and implement the order.

 

259.

Petition - Housebuilding Targets and Infrastructure pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr Steve Heeley addressed the Committee on behalf of the Save Our Heathlands Action Group.

 

In receiving the petition, the Committee referenced the importance of avoiding an increase in housebuilding targets and the challenges presented by the overarching Government policy in place. The relationship between housing and infrastructure, the importance of local views and evidence collection were mentioned.

 

RESOLVED: That:

 

1.  The petitioners be thanked for their petition; and

 

2.  The petition be accepted as a formal consultation response, with the weight of all 4,000 signatures noted.

 

 

 

260.

Motion - Anti-Idling pdf icon PDF 42 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Adkinson addressed the Committee as the mover of the motion at the Council meeting held on 30 September 2020.

 

The Head of Housing and Community Services stated that given the significant resource pressures experienced by the Community Protection and Environmental Health Teams, it was unlikely that there would be the capacity within the next six-months to focus on anti-idling or enforcement against it. This was due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The Committee understood the resources implications but felt that the possibility of an anti-idling policy should be further explored, particularly for future use. It was noted this would signify a further commitment to green policies.

 

RESOLVED: That the recommendation to move forward with an anti-idling policy is accepted in principle, and officers be asked to bring a full report to a future meeting on how such a policy could move forward in practice with a balanced assessment on how this would operate.

 

261.

Local Plan Review Regulation 18 Preferred Approaches Public Consultation Update pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Minutes:

The Strategic Planning Manager introduced the report and highlighted that the Regulation 18 Preferred Approaches Public Consultation Document and Sustainability Appraisal would be published on 1 December 2020 as intended. A pre-consultation engagement exercise to involve parishes, developers, key stakeholders and adjoining Local Authorities had begun.

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

 

 

262.

DURATION OF MEETING.

Minutes:

6.30 p.m. to 8.12 p.m.