Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point in the meeting, the Executive Member are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, the Executive Member confirmed he had no personal interests that were not included on the Register of Interests, nor any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interest, to declare in the business of the agenda.

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It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The report first outlines the two planning consultations that have recently been released by the Government, Planning For Future (White paper) and Changes To The Current Planning System, along with the questions that form part of the consultation. The second part outlines the recent changes to Planning and Licensing legislation and the associated impacts/implications.

Resolved:

1.      That The Executive Member refer part one of the report along with the Council’s draft response to the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) for consideration and recommendations and that all Council Members be encouraged to respond to this consultation so that all Members’ contributions are represented.

2.      That the Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection having regard to the views and recommendations of CSMC and all Council Members, be delegated responsibility to submit the Councils response to the consultations referred to in part 1 of this report in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and Performance and Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning.  Particularly where section 106, finance and housing concerns overlap.

3.      That the Executive Member noted part two of the report and

confirmed that the Council is required to give significant weight to the ministerial statement in terms of Construction Hours and has limited alternatives to the process that has been taken and that updates are provided to Members on the Planning Portal.

4.      That any issues relating to changes in licensing regulations be included in the general review of the emergency Traffic Orders that were introduced in the City Centre.  The Executive Member noted the hard work of so many officers to implement the changes so quickly.

Reasons:

To ensure that all Members are consulted and have an opportunity to make recommendations at an early stage which would then be considered and incorporated into the Council’s response to the consultations referred to in part 1 of this report and to ensure that

significant weight be given to the ministerial statement in terms of Construction Hours understanding that there are limited alternatives to the process that has been taken.

The Executive Member received a report which considered the consequences and implementation of the Business and Planning Act 2020.  The first part of the report set out the two planning consultations that had recently been released by the Government, ‘Planning for Future’ (White paper) and the ‘Changes to the Current Planning System’, along with the questions that formed part of the consultation. The second part outlined the recent changes to Planning and Licensing legislation and the associated impacts/implications.

The proposed changes had been brought to this meeting for consideration as they would have a significant impact on all councillors in their representative role, and amend/delete many of the features that the public have come to expect in terms of being able to comment and challenge planning applications.

The planning consultation deadlines were: 29 October 2020 for the Planning for the Future consultation and 1 October for the Changes to the current planning system.  The Executive Member encouraged all Council Members and the public to view the relevant information within the published Agenda for this meeting

and to contribute to these consultations.

Regarding Part 2 of the report ‘Recent and Proposed Changes To Planning and Licensing’

Some of the most significant changes had included:

·        It was now quicker and cheaper to get a pavement licence.  Previously £600, now £100.  With 14 days to process the request or automatic approval.

·        Licensing permission to serve alcohol (off license provision) and to provide a take away service. 

·        Greater provision to respond to anti-social behaviour, provided that it could be evidenced that these problems had arisen as a direct result of off license provision.

The Executive Member mentioned there had been some problems in that new applications were given rights that existing applicants did not have.  The Assistant Director responsible for Planning and Public Protection provided assurances that this concern had been addressed.

In response to a question from the Executive Member, the Trading Standards Manager outlined the measures taken to ensure that these provisions would not adversely impact upon neighbours and neighbouring businesses.  Initially there had been a higher Police presence and a staggered approach to pubs re-opening.  Chairs and tables were set up with appropriate spacing requirements in designated areas.  Rangers and Enforcement Officers walked the area each day to monitor these adjustments.

The Executive Member expressed his appreciation that the Council were supporting businesses safely and keeping order and requested monitoring of this with a report to this Decision Session given that Licenses would be automatically approved regardless of whether or not they were processed within 14 days.  It was reported that these changes in terms of granting these Licences within 14 days, would be in place until September 2021.

Regarding the second part of this report,  a summary of legislation on Planning and Licensing, the Assistant Director responsible for Planning and Public Protection mentioned it had been striking that the press had taken issue with planning notices placed on lamp posts, as it was unlikely that locations would have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.