Agenda and minutes

To sign as a correct record the notes of the meeting of the South East Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee meeting held on 13 July 2012 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2012 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To seek approval of the first part of the preferred options version for the purpose of public consultation.  (Report of the Joint Policy Unit Manager enclosed.)

Consideration was given to the report of the Joint Policy Unit Manager which sought approval of the first part of the Preferred Options version for the purpose of public consultation.  The Combined Preferred Options and Sustainability Appraisal Report was attached as Appendix A within the report.  Comments received from the Head of Built Environment and Development at Boston Borough Council and the Planning Manager for Breckland and South Holland District Councils were included at section 4 of the report.

The Joint Policy Unit Manager noted that the Head of Built Environment and Development had raised the issue as to whether the Joint Committee should reserve full consideration and final approval of the document for consultation purposes to the next meeting of the Committee, when a complete document would be available. Following discussion on this matter, it was agreed that none of the outstanding issues fundamentally challenged the proposals presented for consideration at the meeting and, therefore, Councillors agreed to consider the document for approval at this point in time.

There was some discussion on the proposed public consultation exercise relating to the document, and the following points  were discussed:

·        If the public were to be encouraged  to engage, a more straightforward document would be required.  The full document should be summarised and put into plain English. Officers responded by stating that they were in the early stages of preparing a document for public consultation, and were aware that a succinct summary was required.  The summary document could be based on the shaded preferred policy approaches within the full document.

·        Consideration of a summary document needed to take place once the full document was agreed.  Before the summary document was issued  for consultation, it had to be signed-off by members.

·        In response to a question on whether the consultation exercise was to inform or to genuinely consult, officers advised that this point had been made by many people and that they appreciated their concern. Officers would be making clear that they would be seeking comments not only on the Preferred Options but also on the options that have been rejected and suggestions for other options to be considered. 

·        With regard to the offer by officers to attend  parish council meetings as part of the consultation process, Members noted the need for summary documents to be made available at these meetings.

The Committee considered each of the proposed preferred policy approaches, and the following issues were raised:

Vision and Strategic Priorities (Page 9 of the document)

This section was considered to be a little vague; however, it was felt that this was preferable when outlining the initial vision and priorities.  At this stage, the document should not be too specific or contain undeliverable projects. 

Housing Growth and Flood Risk (from Page 12 of the document)

·        Chris Holliday reported that he and Mark Robinson from the Environment Agency (EA) had met after the last Local Plan Steering Group meeting.  The EA letter to Boston Borough Councilhad been positive and they were comfortable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To be confirmed.

It was agreed that the Summary document would be finalised in March and taken to the Committee for approval.

The next meeting of the Committee was set for Friday 5 April 2012, to be held at South Holland District Council.