Agenda item

Toby Forbes-Turner, Planning Policy Manager:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee with an annual report detailing the work undertaken by the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee (CLJSPC) over the period April 1st 2023 through to 31st March 2024

b)    advised that The Local Plan (adopted in April 2023) set out the planning policies for Central Lincolnshire (including the City) and this involved allocating parcels of land for development as well as identifying land which should be protected from development. The Plan included a set of 84 policies which guided decision makers i.e. Planning Committee on future planning applications for the City.

c)    stated that the Joint Planning Committee reached its fourteenth year over the course of 2023/24. This year had followed the adoption of the second Central Lincolnshire Local Plan in April 2023.

d)    highlighted that the AGM meeting took place on 26 June 2023 with Councillor Richard Wright (North Kesteven District Council) being voted in as Chair for the year. The Local Plans Team Annual Report, Central Lincolnshire Budget Update, and Draft Planning Obligations SPD for consultation were some of the items considered.

e)    further highlighted that Committee approved the annual report as a fair reflection of the activity of the Committee over the year. The Committee also approved the budget for the Local Plans Team for 2023/24 and agreed with the recommendation to undertake a review of the contribution levels from the Central Lincolnshire authorities. It also approved the draft Planning Obligations SPD to go out to consultation. The committee meeting, however, was postponed until 16October 2023 to allow for the responses to the Planning Obligations Consultation to be collated and reviewed by officers. At this meeting the Committee considered items on Planning Obligations SPD Proposed for Adoption and Update on Government Consultation on changes to Plan-making.

f)      advised that the final meeting took place on 18 March to consider items on Local Plans Update, Authority-wide Design Code and Local Development Scheme, Biodiversity Net Gain update and 2024-29 Central Lincolnshire Housing Delivery Plan, all of which the Committee approved

g)    informed the committee that the team had been successful in securing government funding to deliver an integrated mapping and engagement system further to enhance the service

h)    referred to Appendix 1 of his report which set out the expenditure for the last financial year which showed that there was a substantial underspend of £56,286 (£284,414 spent against an anticipated £340,700). This underspend was a result of factors including staffing costs being lower than expected, partly due to recruitment not completing until part way through the year and consultancy costs being lower than expected.

i)      welcomed members comments and questions.

Question: A recent planning application was rejected by Members as they felt it was unreasonable that the developer was unable to fund appropriate S106 contributions, had other district Councils experienced the same problem?

Response: There were more complexities in Lincoln due to the historic nature of its sites and issues with viability and it was more costly for developers as a result of this.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.