Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Fonseca.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed on the agenda.

Councillor Broadwell declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in relation to agenda item 5, “Draft Leicester Local Plan (2020 – 2036) – Public Consultation”, in that she ran a business restoring and refurbishing electric bikes.

Councillor Porter declared for openness that he had objections to a number of elements of the Draft Local Plan and had expressed these opinions publicly, (agenda item 5, “Draft Leicester Local Plan (2020 – 2036) – Public Consultation”, referred).

Councillor Rae Bhatia declared for openness that he was one of the Councillors representing Beaumont Leys Ward, which was impacted by new developments such as Ashton Green, (agenda item 5, “Draft Leicester Local Plan (2020 – 2036) – Public Consultation”, referred).

Councillor Sandhu declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in relation to agenda item 5, “Draft Leicester Local Plan (2020 – 2036) – Public Consultation”, in that his wife owned a property in the St George’s Character Area.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations or statements of case.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representation, or statements of case had been received.

The Director of Planning, Development and Transportation submits a presentation on the Draft Leicester Local Plan (2020 – 2036) Public Consultation.

The plans and supporting documents can be accessed online at

consultations.leicester.gov.uk

The City Mayor introduced the Draft Local Plan, stressing that the decisions made and adoption of the Plan were for politicians to do.  This was a long process, so it was would be beneficial for Members to consider the whole document now, in order that full scrutiny could be undertaken.

The Team Leader (Generic Planning) gave a presentation, a copy of which had been circulated with the agenda papers.  During the presentation, he drew particular attention to the following points:

·           A response to the Government’s White Paper “Planning for the Future” was being prepared for submission at the end of the month.  Proposed changes included growth / renewal / protection designations; removing the duty to co-operate; local design codes and national development policies; and new housing methodology.  New use classes and Permitted Development Rights also needed to be considered;

·           The City Council currently worked with neighbouring district councils on meeting housing need, as the City Council was the only one of these authorities with unmet housing need, and would continue to do so.  However, it was noted that the level of this need could change due to Government methodology changes and as sites became available or were no longer available.  In addition, the City Council had participated in Examinations of neighbouring districts’ Local Plans, in order to ensure that sufficient provision for the city’s unmet housing need was included in those Plans;

·           The Council also had unmet employment need and needed to co-operate with neighbouring authorities over cross-boundary issues such as transport and other infrastructure;

·           Despite the proposals contained in the White Paper, the Government wanted local authorities to proceed with Local Plans;

·           The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) had been revised due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The revised SCI made more provision for online participation and set out how people could participate in the consultation if they did not have access to the internet;

·           As part of the process of developing the Draft Local Plan, a ‘call for sites’ exercise had been carried out, to invite sites to come forward for development;

·           The allocations for housing, employment and schools were draft.  Proposed allocations were likely to change as the Plan progressed;

·           The significant impact of changes in use classes recently implemented would be considered, particularly in relation to the central development area and other employment areas, as big changes to retail and employment policy would be required;

·           It was recognised that there would be some difficult decisions to take in achieving a balance between housing, employment and public open space.  However, where developments did not accommodate the provision of public open space, use was made of financial contributions from developers towards this provision in adjoining areas;

·           Promotion of walking, cycling and sustainable transport would include links to areas outside the city boundary;

·           Policies in the Government’s White Paper on climate change currently were unclear.  Notwithstanding this, it is recognised that the policies in the Draft local Plan needed to be updated and work was being commissioned to look at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

The meeting closed at 6.07 pm