Venue: Conference Room 3 - Civic Centre. View directions
Items
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9. |
Minutes of the Previous Meetings (Including Matters Arising) PDF 6 KB
To approve and sign as a correct record the
Minutes of the Inquiry Meetings held on 6th February and
6th March, 2014, attached
Additional documents:
Minutes:
RESOLVED
(i)
that the Minutes of the Inquiry Meeting held on 6th
February 2014 be approved subject to the following amendment to the
third paragraph on page 7:-
“Chris Lyons stated that it was
likely that a HMO may only need to prove” instead of
“Chris Lyons confirmed that a HMO only needed to
prove”.
Amended sentence to read “Chris
Lyons stated that it was likely that a HMO may only need to prove
that it had been used as such for 4 years now.”; and
(ii)
that the
Minutes of the Inquiry Meeting held on 6th March 2014 be
approved and signed as a correct record.
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10. |
Neighbourhood Plans PDF 32 KB
Report of the Assistant
Chief Executive focussing on increasing
understanding of Neighbourhood Plans, attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Panel received a presentation from Deb
Appleby, Development Manager from Locality.
The background to Locality and its role with
regard to Neighbourhood Planning was outlined. With partners, Locality formed part of a
nationwide network which delivered funding and support under the
Department of Communities and Local Government’s
“Supporting Communities and Neighbourhoods in Planning”
programme to help communities produce neighbourhood plans.
Neighbourhood Planning came about due to changes to the Planning
process arising from the Localism Act
2011.
Key points of the presentation and subsequent
discussion included:-
- Neighbourhood Plans (NPs) were a
legal document that could be used as a tool to empower communities
to identify local issues / solutions and influence aspects of land
use and development.
- NPs had to comply with European,
national and local planning policies and strategies, be community
led, evidence based and could not be used to stop growth.
- Government regulations required that
a forum be set up to prepare, publicise and manage the process for
creating a Neighbourhood Plan.
- Local planning authorities had a
statutory obligation to support Neighbourhood Forums (NFs) with their NP.
- As Southampton had no town or parish
councils (which could produce their own NP) they would have to be
via Neighbourhood Forums which had to consist of at least 21
residents or workers and include a locally elected councillor.
- There were no specific boundaries
for a NP/Forum – it could be based on an existing ward
boundary, or predefined area chosen by communities and could
encroach into other LA areas but the area did have to be designated
by the LPA.
- There were three main stages to the
process of producing a NP:
- Designation – by the LPA
- Independent examination (by a
locally appointed examiner agreed by both the Local Planning
Authority and Neighbourhood Forum).
Examiners could be appointed from a national register; they could
be local and should be suitably qualified. They could be used to provide guidance and
ultimately would recommend whether or not the Plan should go
forward to referendum, with or without modifications, and who
should vote in the referendum.
- Referendum - where 51% or higher
vote of support meant the adoption of the NP. Referendums represented substantial cost for local
authorities but funding could be drawn down for this and there was
a limit on the number of referendums that could be held for any
plan.
- There were approximately 1,000 NPs
at varying stages of development with 17 plans at examination stage
and seven having become part of their local development plan.
- It was felt that development
pressure led to the popularity for NPs being higher in the South
East than anywhere else in the country
- It was emphasised that there had to
be strong local interest for the NP to succeed – where the
community recognised the need for development and wished to shape
it – it could also be used as a tool for regeneration in
deprived areas.
- Several examples were cited
including:-
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