The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services is submitting a report to the City Executive Board on 16 October 2018 to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

The report and relevant appendices are attached. Please note that Appendices 2 i, ii, iii, iv and the Policies Map will be published as a separate supplements.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, will present the report.

Recommendation:

Subject to the decision of the City Executive Board on 16 October 2018, Council is recommended to resolve to:

1.     Approve  the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.     Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

And note that the City Executive Board resolved to: 

3.     Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.     Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications; and

5.     Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory  Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, moved the recommendations which were adopted on being seconded and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.               Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

3.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications;

5.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Council considered a report of the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, submitted to the City Executive Board 16 October 2018 to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, presented the report.  He began by placing on record his thanks to the many officers in the Planning Policy team, especially Sarah Harrison and Amanda Ford, for their professionalism and diligent hard work which had delivered a draft Local Plan of such a high quality.  He also thanked the Scrutiny Committee and Scrutiny Housing Panel for their contribution, in the course of several meetings, to the emerging plan. Finally he paid tribute to Patsy Dell, the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, for her contribution and leadership over the past three years.  Council echoed these sentiments.

For clarification he advised Council that, during the debate, they should refer to the following documents:

·       the officer report and chapters 1 – 7 in the main Council agenda pack

·       the appendices set out in the Council agenda supplement 1

·       the briefing note which contained a list of changes from the City Executive Board meeting and a revised chapter 8 (which superseded the earlier versions contained in the main Council agenda pack and supplement 2)

To set the context for the debate he quoted from the foreword to the Local Plan as set out on page 15 of the agenda pack.

Councillor Gant, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, noted that detailed and specific comment by members had been over the course of the last year as the plan evolved from the preferred options document.  He acknowledged that not all of the suggestions put forward by his group had been accepted and said that overall he welcomed the draft document as a proportionate and sensible plan for Oxford.

During debate Council highlighted a number of points including, but not confined to:

·       the Local Plan should be considered in the context of a wider suite of documents which set out the Council’s strategy and vision for the future of the city of Oxford

·       the challenge of achieving an appropriate prioritisation and balance between allocated housing sites and category 2 employment sites (Policy E1: Employment sites)

·       that the Local Plan recognised that as life expectancy in Oxford was projected to rise there would be an increased demand for appropriate accommodation (Policy H11: Older persons and specialist and supported living accommodation)

·       any increased risk of flooding as a result of new development in the city would be addressed as part of the planning application process (Policy RE 3: Flood risk management)

Council recorded its thanks to the Board Member for his contribution to the draft Local Plan.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services has submitted a report to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

Please note that Appendices 2i,ii,iii,iv, and v will be  published as a separate supplement.

Recommendations:That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Recommend Council approves  the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.     Recommend Council approves all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

3.    Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.    Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications; and

5.    Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory  Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services had submitted a report to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

Councillor Hollingsworth introduced the report and began by placing on record his thanks to the team of officers led by Patsy Dell for their exemplary work in bringing the plan to this point. The workload had been considerable for a small team. He paid particular tribute to the contribution made by Sarah Harrison and Amanda Ford.

This was the penultimate stage before submission to the Secretary of State and public consultation, with the final Council opportunity to influence at its meeting to be held the following day.

Councillor Hollingsworth went on to draw attention to the 4 changes made as a result of the recent Scrutiny consideration of the draft, details of which had been published before the meeting.

The City Executive Board resolved to recommend to Council to:

1.         Approve  the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation, subject to the changes identified above;

2.         Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

3.         Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.         Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications; and

5.         Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory  Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Report may follow

Councillor Gant, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, presented the report and the recommendation from the committee (attached as a supplement to the agenda).

The scrutiny committee recommended: That consideration is given to the possibility and desirability of using planning policy to protect and control shopping frontages in smaller shopping areas that are not classified as local centres.

He highlighted two further points:

·         The concerns of the boating community

·         Only the most up-to-date information on the current consultation and the most current locations of the roadshow should be shown to avoid confusion.

The Board Member for Planning and Regulatory Services said that:

·         he agreed in part with the recommendation Local centres are considered in the Local Plan Preferred Options document as part of the hierarchy of centres for town centres uses. Town centres are where town centre uses should be directed. The definition of Town centres in the NPPF explicitly excludes neighbourhood centres. An option to include a lower tier of centres (below Local Centres) has not been put forward in the Plan, as this is not therefore considered to be compliant with the NPPF which sets out that small parades of shops are not classed as ‘centres’. The proposed Local Centres are listed in the Options document, and if consultees consider further areas should to be identified as centres, they can be put forward during the consultation, and if it’s considered that they do meet the NPPF definition then they can be included in the draft plan.;

·         in light of comments from the boating community, amended wording for section 2.3 ii) Homes for boat dwellers would be proposed;

·         and agreed with the point about the consultation

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services has submitted a report which seeks approval to submit the draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 for public consultation

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Preferred Options document for consultation; and

2.    Delegate Authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Board Member for Planning and Regulatory Services, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document and to agree the graphically designed version before publication.

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services submitted a report which seeks approval to submit the draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 for public consultation.

Cllr Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Regulatory Services presented the report and the consultation documents and proposed amendments to section 2.3 ii) Homes for boat dwellers boxes a and c:

The consultation process was discussed.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Preferred Options document for consultation with the amendment above; and

2.    Delegate Authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Board Member for Planning and Regulatory Services, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document and to agree the graphically designed version before publication.

The Chair introduced this item. He said this was an opportunity for the Scrutiny Committee to make recommendations to the City Executive Board to inform their decision to approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Preferred Options Document for consultation. He explained that the discussion should focus on establishing that the consultation document was fit for purpose and presented a suitable range of options for the public to consider.  The Committee would have further opportunity to discuss the detail of the individual policy proposals.

The following members of the public addressed the Committee:

Jon Ody (representative for the National Bargee Travellers Association – NBTA) expressed his view that the assessment for the needs of travellers described in section 2.3 of the consultation document did not comply with the recent legislation and government guidance. He proposed some revisions to the recommendations in section 2.3(ii) and tabled an alternative Option D.  A copy of the material submitted by Mr Ody is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

Sam Dent reiterated the points made by Mr Ody and expressed her concern that the fact that the options contained in the consultation document were potentially non-compliant indicated that, despite the previous assurances given at Full Council in 2016, the views of the boating community had not been considered fully by the team working on the Local Plan consultation document.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Regulatory gave an undertaking to review the consultation document in regard to the points raised by the public and to respond in detail at the City Executive Board meeting. He emphasised that option A was the preferred option and that options B and C were alternative options.  The preferred option was for a capacity based policy that applies similar principles to planning applications for new residential moorings that already apply to bricks and mortar. 

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services; the Planning Policy and Design, Conservation and Trees Manager; and a Principal Planner attended the meeting to present the detail of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Preferred Options Document and to answer questions from the Committee.

The Committee commented that consultation materials needed to be clear and concise, specifically in respect of:

·         Seeking views on the mix of housing and employment sites in the city.

·         Emphasising that social housing is the only category of affordable housing that is genuinely affordable to many people in the city.

The Board Member agreed to circulate drafts of the public consultation documents to scrutiny members on the proviso that they would have the opportunity to comment on but not re-write the material.

The Committee conducted a lengthy and comprehensive review of the policy options detailed consultation document.  The Board Member and planning officers highlighted the more significant changes and contentious issues. The Committee welcomed the Council putting the various new proposals out for public discussion and sought assurances on a number of points. Their discussion included, but was not limited to, the following issues:

·         A final  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5