Agenda item

Purpose of Report

To provide the Executive with an overview of the new requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 and set out how the Council’s Planning Team would implement the Brownfield Land Register.

The report also advised the Executive that the Council be recommended to amend the Constitution to include decision making associated with its forthcoming Brownfield Land Register.

Decision

That the Executive:

(1)          Notes the report on the new requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.

(2)          Notes how the Council’s Planning Team will implement the Brownfield Land Register.

(3)          Recommends that the Council amends the Constitution to include decision making associated with its forthcoming Brownfield Land Register.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

To not prepare a Brownfield Land Register would put the Council in breach of the legal requirements contained within the 2017 Brownfield Land Register Regulations.

Reasons for Decision

The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 came into force which introduced a requirement on Local Planning Authorities to publish and maintain a Brownfield Land Register. Brownfield land referred to land which had previously been developed and was or had been occupied by a permanent structure.

There was a legal requirement for all Local Authorities to comply with the deadline for publication of the register by 31 December 2017 and the Department for Communities and Local Government had published a prescribed format that all Local Authorities must use to publish their data.

Part 1 of the Brownfield Land Register included details of all sites within the Council’s area which were categorised as previously developed land irrespective of planning status and which met the following criteria:

·         the land must be at least 0.25ha and have capacity to accommodate at least five dwellings;

·         the land must be ‘suitable’ for residential development;

·         the land must be ‘available’ for residential development;

·         housing development on the land must be ‘achievable’.

The terms ‘suitable’, ‘available’ and ‘achievable’ were defined in Regulation 4 of the Brownfield Land Register Regulations.

Implementation of Part 1 of the Brownfield Land Register would be carried out by the Principal Planning Officer with support from the Departmental Management Team Leader and Planning Manager. This would comprise of a review of sites that had previously been identified through the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment which formed part of the evidence base in support of the recently adopted Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. A review of other suitable sites had also been undertaken which met the Brownfield Plan definition criteria.

Part 2 of the Brownfield Land Register was effectively a subset of Part 1, which allowed Local Planning Authorities to select sites that they considered to be appropriate to grant permission in principle for housing-led development. This was an additional tool that the Government had created and the Council had to carefully consider whether it was beneficial to use it, and if so where. At this stage it was considered that no sites should be put into Part 2 of the City of Lincoln Council’s register. This was due to the focus being on preparing for Part 1 of the register in order to meet the legal deadline. Further consideration would be given to Part 2 of the register as part of the annual review of the Brownfield Land Register in 2018.