Issue - meetings

Town Centre Masterplan

Meeting: 13/07/2023 - Executive (Item 10)

10 Town Centre Masterplan EXE23-056 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Reporting Person – Beverley Kuchar

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Following the meeting of the Executive on 2 February 2023, Officers had reviewed how the Town Centre Masterplan work could be taken forward, making effective use of the valuable consultation feedback.  Councillor Lyons, Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy, explained the three clear options set out in the report along with the benefits and challenges of each option.  Due to the Council’s financial constraints the third option was the only available option, which was to take forward the Masterplan work as part of the new Local Plan.  It was noted that the Council was statutorily obliged to bring forward a new Local Plan following the end of the current plan period (2027) and the approach was recommended by Officers.  The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the work carried out to date in terms of overarching principles of the townscape strategy was being used by Officers in discussions with developers, and as evidence to inform the current review of the Core Strategy.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the report under its pre-decision scrutiny remit at its meeting on 10 July 2023 and the minute of the Committee was before the Executive.  The Portfolio Holder expressed disappointment that he had been unable to attend the Committee due to receiving an invitation at short notice.  The Portfolio Holder drew attention to the minute of the Committee and stated that the adoption of the Masterplan, in whatever format, would not affect development in the villages in the outskirts and would not require declassification of Green Belt land.

The Executive welcomed the extensive work carried out to date to guide future development in the town centre and thanked Officers for their efforts.  The Executive was supportive of the Masterplan work being taken forward as part of the new Local Plan.

RESOLVED

That  (i)    the minute of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 10 July 2023 regarding the Town Centre Masterplan, including the individual Members of Committee’s concerns, be noted; and

          (ii)   the Masterplan work, including a townscape strategy and design code, be taken forward as part of the new Local Plan.

Reason:   This is the preferred option to bring forward robust town centre policies, alongside detailed design code to guide development over the next plan period (15 years).


Meeting: 10/07/2023 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 10)

10 Pre-Decision Scrutiny: Town Centre Masterplan OSC23-035 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee discussed the expenditure on the consultation and what outcomes were drawn from it.  It was confirmed that the Council had spent £160,000 on the consultation with £60,000 having been received as a grant.  The cost also included expenditure on preparations ahead of the consultation.

The responses to the consultation could be used to inform the Local Plan and its three consultations which were required by law.  The Committee indicated that any scrutiny of the money spent on the consultation was born of a concern for the Council’s wider finances.

The Leader of the Council, in attendance at the meeting, noted that the Town Centre Masterplan had been designed so that there was greater clarity as to the Planning Authority’s considerations for an application which would benefit both developers and the Council.  It was anticipated that the Masterplan would help to reduce the number of appeals to the Planning Inspectorate and thus reduce costs.

The Committee agreed that the proposed strategy in the Town Centre Masterplan was the most appropriate given the Council’s finances however the Committee expressed its reservation about the impact the Masterplan may have on other parts of the Borough.

Two Members raised concern that there could be unforeseen consequences on the Borough villages derived from the Town Centre Masterplan proposing height limits for buildings and the extant Local Plan limiting green belt construction.  The Committee discussed potential impact from the new Town Centre Masterplan and the Local Plan on construction across the Borough.  There was particular concern from the two Members that an intensification of construction, particularly multi-storey, would occur in the Borough’s villages to offset limits in building high-rise buildings in the Town Centre.

The Committee agreed to provide the minute of the item to the Executive to ensure those concerns were noted in the following terms:

(i)            the Overview and Scrutiny Committee accepted that the Town Centre Masterplan, as part of a new Local Plan, would be the most appropriate only given the financial situation of the Council; and

individual Members on the Committee’s reservation as to the potential impact on the Borough’s villages in the future due to the proposed height limits for buildings in the Town Centre Masterplan.