Agenda item

Toby Forbes Turner, Planning Policy Manager:

a)    presented members with an annual report detailing work undertaken by the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee (CLJSPC) over the period 1 April 2020 through to 31 March 2021

b)    explained that the Joint Planning Committee reached its eleventh year over the course of 2020/21. This year had been very challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic which had significantly impacted on the local plan process, but more importantly on the planning and development sector, introducing uncertainty over what would be deliverable in the short term and what measures were necessary to address Covid-19 in local plans

c)    reported that substantial progress had been made with the development of the plan which had led to the Consultation Draft Local Plan being produced ready for public consultation starting the end of June 2021

d)    highlighted the following progress in 2020/21:

·         the Local Plans Team Annual Report

·         the Local Plan Progress Update; and

·         the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Budget Update

e)    explained that in the coming year, it was anticipated that the local plan would enter the final stages of the plan-making process. This included:

·         commencing the Regulation 18 Consultation on the Draft Local Plan in the summer, subject to approval by the Committee.

·         consideration of the responses and amending the plan where needed.

·         finalising the plan and supporting evidence.

·         seeking approval from the Committee for the submission version of the plan before undertaking the final Regulation 19 public consultation; and

·         submission of the plan for examination.

f)     reported that the budget for 1020/21 was set out in Appendix 1 of the report which represented the second year of a three year budget approved by members of the Joint Planning Committee on the 13^th January 2020, which was designed to ensure that the joint partnership was adequately supported to facilitate the Local Plan making process. Overall, the Local Plans budget was in a healthy position.

g)    invited members’ comments and questions.

Question: Members asked what Lincolnshire County Council was contributing.

Response: Originally £30k-£40k was contributed but instead of a monetary contribution, Lincolnshire County Council offered officer time/contributions.

Question: Members asked whether the consultation process was easy to comment on and how many comments were received from the public.

Response: The Local Plan consultation process met the statutory guidelines for consultation. Members of the public were able to write in or call. Last time there was a consultation on the Local Plan there were circa 3500 comments from the public.

Question: Members asked if any face to face consultation would be taking place.

Response: Face to face consultation was not needed this time and there were not the resources to do so. If a member of the public had a specific query, they could request to speak to an officer.

Question: Members asked if the budget could be reduced.

Response: The budget was reviewed on a partnership basis. There were different aspects of the process that would cost more than others. The budget would look different in a years’ time.

RESOLVED that the annual report be noted.