Agenda and minutes

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The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

RESOLVED

·         That the Chair’s announcement regarding the filming of the meeting for live or subsequent broadcast be noted.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Beacham, Gunes, Mallett and Weston.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March.

RESOLVED

·         That the minutes of the Regulatory Committee meeting held on 3 March be agreed as an accurate record.

Matters arising:

·         A short written briefing was requested from the Licensing Team setting out the Council’s position and powers in relation to the sale of cigarettes from stalls during Finsbury Park events.

·         It was agreed that following a recent incident, a guidance note would be circulated to Regulatory Committee members reiterating rules on Member conduct when sitting on licensing committee panels.

·         Cllr Bevan provided clarification on the point he raised at the last meeting regarding social housing during discussions on the draft Housing Strategy consultation. His point was wider than that minuted in that he felt that individuals that owned property abroad should be precluded from eligibility for social housing. 

To establish the Regulatory Committee sub-bodies for the new municipal year.

The Committee considered a report to establish the Planning and Licensing Sub-Committees as sub bodies of the Regulatory Committee for the new 2015/16 municipal year. The terms of reference and tabled proposed membership of these Committees were noted. Cllr Carroll was welcomed as the new Regulatory and Planning Committee Vice Chair for the year.

Members were reminded of the imperative for all new Regulatory Committee members to complete licensing training in order to allow them to act as substitutes at Licensing Committee meetings going forward. Proposed training dates would be circulated to members next week.

RESOLVED

·         That the terms of reference of the Regulatory Committee be noted and the terms of reference of the Licensing and Planning Sub-Committees be approved.

·         That the establishment and membership of the Planning and Licensing Sub-Committees 2015/16 be approved.

·         That the provisions within the Constitution regarding substitution arrangements and the Committee procedure rules regarding licensing hearings and Local Licensing Procedure Rules be noted.

To advise on the performance of Development Management and Planning Enforcement for 2014/15, together with progress on the Development Management Improvement Plan as well as challenges faced by the service with regard to changes to national policy and resourcing and the service’s response to these.

The Committee considered a report setting out the performance of the Development Management and Planning Enforcement service for 2014/15 and progress against the Development Management Improvement Plan.

Officers gave a short presentation highlighting key points:

·         20 major applications had been approved in the last year, a particular achievement when set against a considerable year on year increase in the number of applications received and no commensurate increase in staffing levels. Performance over the last two years stood at 100% determination within the 13 week target.  

·         Performance in relation to determination of minor applications and other applications was more variable but both were exceeding corporate targets.

·         Performance in relation to the timely discharge of conditions would be an area of focus going forward. A new non-negotiation approach had now been adopted in this area following the introduction of new regulations deeming conditions to be automatically discharged if not determined by planning authorities within 8 weeks. Current performance stood at 55% against a 100% target.

·         The performance of the new householder service remained a challenge set against a doubling in the number of applications received. Performance was currently at 70% against a 10 working day response target.

·         Further areas of focus going forward included introducing a new process to reduce the time taken to validate planning applications and drilling down data on the cyclical nature of demand to inform a planned resourcing strategy. The development was also underway of a new up to date and simplified policy framework and reviews planned of the planning protocol and Member development programme. Work was also underway on the adoption of a CIL and s106 SPD and arrangements for managing community involvement through the new neighbourhood planning regime.

·         Key highlights in terms of the enforcement service included the hosting of a collaboration session with Members regarding future enforcement priorities, the addressing of staff performance issues, the recruitment of a new interim team leader and the setting up of a new collaborative project in Tottenham. It was requested that the results of the session with Members on enforcement priorities be circulated to all Councillors.

In response to a question, officers provided confirmation that a training session on CIL and s106 legal agreements would be run for the new Planning Committee.

Members requested that consideration be given to arranging an official launch for the new Quality Review Panel now it was in place.

Members asked whether opportunities could be explored for publicising successful enforcement cases to act as a deterrent effect. Officers advised that this would be considered as part of the update of the enforcement policy which would likely be accompanied by a publicity campaign. Additional areas of focus for the service would be focussing enforcement on certain areas to demonstrate effectiveness, enhancing community engagement through improving the Council website and exploring the introduction of an app to enable the distribution of planning proximity notifications.

Officers gave an outline of the key challenges facing the service going forward. These included:

·         Issues with development viability

·         Managing the expectations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 169.

·         21 September

·         7 December

·         15 February 2016

Special Regulatory Committee to be scheduled in July, date to be confirmed.