Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Apologies for absence had been submitted from Councillor Jayne Barry.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interest, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To approve as a correct record and the Leader to sign the attached Minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 15 May 2025.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 May 2025 were approved as a correct record.

Report of Councillor S Pickering, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place.

RESOLVED that:

(1)      the annual assessment of the five-year land supply of deliverable sites for housing be noted.

(2)      the five-year land supply of deliverable sites for housing be published on the Council website.

Cabinet considered a report which advised of the latest five-year housing land supply position in the District prior to the publication of the information on the Council’s website. 

The Council’s statement on the Five Year Housing Land Supply for April 2025 was attached to the report at Appendix 1.  This included information on housing delivery since 2014, which demonstrated that the Council had achieved an average annual completion rate of 444 dwellings, 34% above the annual target. Housing completions over the past three years also demonstrated over delivery in relation to the Government’s Housing Delivery Test, which meant the Council was only required to include a 5% buffer in the five year housing land supply.

The report detailed the calculations in respect of the supply position and concluded that the Council’s housing land supply position at 1 April 2025 was 5.32 years’ supply. 

RESOLVED that:

(1)       the annual assessment of the five-year land supply of deliverable sites for housing be noted.

(2)       the five-year land supply of deliverable sites for housing be published on the Council website.

REASONS FOR DECISION – To ensure Members were aware of the Council’s latest position on the Five Year Housing Land Supply, prior to publication of the information on the Council’s website.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED – National Planning Guidance requires local planning authorities to publish annually a Five Year Housing Land Supply Statement. Failure to produce this statement would make the Council vulnerable to unplanned development proposals contrary to the adopted Local Plan.

To consider any other matter which the Leader is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with the provisions of Statutory Instrument 2012 No 2089, Regulation 11.

There were no urgent items.

The Leader to move:-

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).  [The category of exempt information is stated after each item].

Private Session

RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Scheduled 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Report of Councillor S Pickering, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place.

(Paragraph 3)

RESOLVED that:

(1)       the contents of the report and the pre-publication Issues and Options consultation material that will be made available, be approved for use for the public consultation.

(2)       the proposed arrangements for the public consultation on the Issues and Options for the Local Plan be approved.

(3)       responsibility be delegated to the Assistant Director of Planning, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place, for approving the detailed wording of the Issues and Options consultation material and final arrangements for public consultation including the organisation of Focus Groups.

(4)       the proposed update to the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement to reflect the use of new technology and communication methods that will be used in consultations on the Local Plan and for providing more regular updates on plan making be approved.

Cabinet considered a report that provided an update on progress in preparing the new Local Plan.

Approval was sought for the scope of material to be subject to consultation through the Issues and Options stage of plan making and to undertake public consultation on it and associated documents in line with the details set out in the report.  Details were also provided regarding minor amendments to the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement to take account of advances in technology that would be used during public consultation and the availability of new methods for providing interested persons with more regular updates on plan making.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       the contents of the report and the pre-publication Issues and Options consultation material that will be made available, be approved for use for the public consultation.

(2)       the proposed arrangements for the public consultation on the Issues and Options for the Local Plan be approved.

(3)       responsibility be delegated to the Assistant Director of Planning, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place, for approving the detailed wording of the Issues and Options consultation material and final arrangements for public consultation including the organisation of Focus Groups.

(4)       the proposed update to the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement to reflect the use of new technology and communication methods that will be used in consultations on the Local Plan and for providing more regular updates on plan making be approved.

REASONS FOR DECISION – To ensure that Cabinet had the chance to review the progress of preparation of a new Local Plan against the timetable set out in the LDS and the proposed approach to the Issues and Options consultation.

To ensure that Cabinet had the opportunity to consider the emerging Issues and Options consultation material (and feedback from members of the Local Plan Working Group on this material) before public consultation commenced later in June 2025.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED – The preparation of, and consultation on Issues and Options was a requirement of Plan Making regulations and there was no reasonable alternative to undertaking this stage if the Council wished to secure a new Local Plan.

The Issues and Options material sets out a range of alternatives for consideration and comment throughout consultation and at this stage there were no grounds to either accept or reject a particular option.

To consider any other matter which the Leader is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with the provisions of Statutory Instrument 2012 No 2089, Regulations 5 and 11.

There were no urgent items.