Cllr Matt White, Cabinet Member for
Planning and Corporate Services, responded to questions from the
Panel on issues relating to the Planning part of his
portfolio:
- Cllr Say asked about the housing delivery test which the Council
had failed meaning that central Government now required a
presumption in favour of sustainable development in the Borough.
Cllr White said that the housing delivery test is set on housing
completions over a three-year period and, given that the flow of
housing completions has large variations from year to year, several
local authorities had failed the test. However, the Council would
significantly exceed these levels in other years. The consequences
of failing the test did not have a major impact as the presumption
in favour of sustainable development would only be likely to impact
a small percentage of borderline planning cases where this may tip
the balance in favour of approval. In response to a follow up
question, Cllr White said that a judicial review of this penalty
would not be possible because, although the rules were unfair in
his view, they had been applied correctly. Cllr Diakides added that a lot of planning approvals had
been made but that sometimes private developers failed to deliver
the completions. Cllr White agreed on this point and said that it
highlighted the unfairness of the housing delivery
test.
- Asked by Cllr Brabazon about his
role in the development of the Local Plan, Cllr White said that the
Local Plan is a Cabinet-level decision but also goes to the
Regulatory Committee for comments. He had not yet had any meetings
with the Chair of the Planning Committee on this issue.
- Cllr Brabazon suggested that the
Covid-19 pandemic meant that some aspects of housing policy needed
reconsideration, particularly in relation to families and children
such as the need for more open space. Cllr White said that the
current document available was for consultation/policy background
and that there was no draft Local Plan available as yet. The input
through this process would be followed by an impact analysis. He
agreed with the comments about the need for more open space and a
less dense environment for children and these factors would need to
be carefully considered in addition to the need to deliver more
housing completions and affordable housing.
- Cllr Barnes asked about the impact of the low traffic
neighbourhood in Enfield and the impact on Haringey residents who
were concerned that traffic was being pushed from Bowes to Bounds
Green. Cllr White said he was aware of the concerns of residents
about this and he and the officers were working with their
counterparts in Enfield towards a cross-borough solution, including
through a public meeting the previous week.
- Cllr Hare asked about the loss of green spaces that would result
from a proposal to build flats on the corner of Seven Sisters Road
and St Ann’s Road and another similar proposal in Highgate.
Cllr White said that retaining and expanding green space would be
an important part of the new Local Plan and he was keen to
coordinate policies on green spaces with other Cabinet
Member.
- Cllr Gordon asked about concerns raised because of a reference
to possible intensification of housing in the regeneration of
Council Estates in the Local Plan document. Cllr White said that it
was necessary to look at opportunities to build more housing that
was needed but that there were no current plans to intensify any
particular Council estate. He said that he would take on board the
concerns about the wording in the consultation document and look at
how this could be improved in the draft Local Plan.
- Cllr Gordon asked about co-living schemes, often aimed at young
professionals which include some communal areas, which she felt
could undermine space standards, were not suitable for long-term
living and should not be supported in Haringey through the new
Local Plan. Cllr White said that he agreed with her views on
co-living and space standards. A new policy on co-living would be
needed in the new Local Plan and it might prove necessary to accept
some co-living but in a controlled way.
- Cllr Gordon referred the site allocations in new Local Plan and
concerns about developers buying up small parts of that land
(sometimes referred to as ‘ransom strips’) to force the
Council into making a deal in order to complete the land assembly.
Cllr White acknowledged the concerns and said that this would be
taken on board in the development process for the new Local
Plan.
Cllr Gordon said that the Panel may wish
to submit written proposals towards the new Local Plan consultation
process. Cllr White noted that there was a working group of
Councillors that provided a lot of input into the first steps
document and would continue to do so. Cllr Gordon proposed that any
supplementary questions that the Panel Members had should be
provided to her or the scrutiny officer which could then be fed in
to the working group.