Issue - meetings

To notify members of the housing delivery test results and resulting action plan.

The Scrutiny Commission was notified of the housing delivery test results which calculated that the council had delivered 86% of its required housing target over the last three years, requiring publication of an action plan. It was reported that the government had taken account of slower delivery during the pandemic.

Cllr Ladkin entered the meeting at 6.47pm.

During discussion, the following points were raised:

·         The lack of sustainable communities to accept housing

·         Concern that the situation will worsen in future

·         The local plan would improve the situation in the longer term

·         Engagement with developers and neighbourhood plan groups was taking place

·         Bringing forward the sustainable urban extensions (SUEs) would improve the situation

·         Legislation now required local plans to be updated every five years, so this would result in a constant programme of updates.

A member expressed concern that the Earl Shilton SUE would experience similar delays to the Barwell SUE, however officers provided assurance that lessons had been learned and a project board would oversee progress. It was noted that the Earl Shilton Town Team had been kept informed and the developers were happy to continue to attend those meetings.