Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction).

The Site Allocations document and appendices are available on the Council’s website as part of the agenda documentation, in the Members’ Room, or Members can request a copy from the report author. Members of the public can view the documents by arrangement at Hinckley Hub.

The consultation report in respect of the Preferred Options stage, held between 9 February 2009 and 6 April 2009, can be viewed here.

Members received a report which sought support to consult on the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Development Plan Document (DPD) pre-submission version, sustainability appraisal, consultation report and supporting documents and subsequent submission to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public. It was noted that the dates had been amended in a later version of report after the decision had been taken to consider the report at an Extraordinary meeting of Council in January instead of the scheduled February meeting.

It was explained that, once adopted, the document would help to resolve the five year land supply issue and would also help to prevent speculative applications. It would also help that settlement boundaries would have weight at appeal.

Councillor Taylor left the meeting at 9.09pm.

Some members referred to recent appeal decisions and the lack of Site Allocations DPD being part of the reason for losing those appeals. It was suggested that the localised figures for housing need in a settlement had no weight against the overall numbers needed and that until a DPD was in place this issue would continue. It was also acknowledged that the Government wanted the housing requirements to be met sooner rather than later during the period to 2026.

RESOLVED –

(i)         the pre-submission draft Site Allocations and Development Management Polices DPD, Sustainability Appraisal, consultation report and supporting documents be endorsed for consultation;

(ii)        the planned submission to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public be noted.