Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Planning and Property attached.

Council considered a report of the Director of Planning and Property which recommended that Council approve the Memorandum of Understanding and Statement of Co-operation (Relating to the Provision and Distribution of Housing Land) which had been subject to consultation.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration and City Deal, Councillor Bill Evans reminded Members that the draft MoU was considered by Full Council in November 2019. For the sake of consistency with the other two Central Lancashire authorities, the final MoU and report of consultation were being referred back to Full Council at this time.

It was reported that 27 responses had been received over the 2-week consultation period between 4 November 2019 and 15 November 2019. Feedback from this initial consultation suggested that the consultation period was too short and therefore the consultation was reopened for further a 5-week period between 9 December 2019 and 13 January 2020. A further 10 responses were received during this time.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that final housing figures meant a distribution of 32.5% or 334 Homes to be built as a minimum per annum in South Ribble. Councillor Bill Evans also highlighted an amendment to recommendation 2 which recommended that authority would be delegated to the Director of Planning and Property, not the Deputy Chief Executive as stated in the report.

Councillor Alan Ogilvie requested reassurances in regard to the potential risks associated with the MoU, the legal position with the MoU not using the Standard Housing Figures, and the consequences for South Ribble if Preston and Chorley failed to meet their minimum housing figures.

The Cabinet Member responded to state that the risks had been considered. The total number of dwellings shared between the three authorities was 1026 per annum. If one authority under-delivered this would be picked up by the remaining authorities and vice versa.

With regard to the Government’s Standard Housing Method figures, the figures were constantly changing and therefore any specific questions should be directed at relevant officers.

It was proposed by Councillor Bill Evans, seconded by Councillor Paul Foster and subsequently

RESOLVED (Unanimously)

1.    That Council approves the Memorandum of Understanding and Statement of Co-operation between the Central Lancashire authorities as set out in Appendix 2 of the report, to take effect immediately following the approval by Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council and Chorley Council;

2.    That Council delegates authority to the Director of Planning and Property to amend the revised Memorandum of Understanding and Statement of Co-operation by way of minor alterations which do not effect the substance or general content of the said document prior to it taking effect;

3.    That Council note that on the date of effect, the Memorandum of Understanding and Statement of Co-operation will be implemented for Development Management purposes in the determination of planning applications;

4.    That Council agree the preparation of a single five-year housing land supply for the purposed of determining planning applications and appeals which will include sharing information about specific sites.