Issue - meetings

To consider the recommendations of Cabinet. 

The Cabinet at its meeting on 3^rd October 2011 had considered a report on the draft National Planning Policy Framework which would replace all current Planning Policy Statements; the report outlined some of the issues it raised for planning in Cheshire East and suggested a response to be made by the Council to the current consultation. 

The proposed response, detailed in Appendix 1 of the report, had been considered by the Strategic Planning Board at its meeting on 28^th September 2011; the Board had supported the draft response but had made the following additional comments:

§         That the response should say more about the importance of agriculture – as a producer of food and as an important business – and that the role of agricultural land should be given greater prominence in the debate over the development of land.

§         That wherever possible officers will suggest new wording to accompany our comments of concern. It is considered that comments will carry more weight if positive wording is put forward in some cases.

Cabinet had agreed that these comments should be incorporated into the response and, in addition, that the section in the covering response entitled ‘The Favourable Presumption and Plans under preparation’ should be expanded to include:

§         That local plans remain protected until such time as the new National Planning Policy Framework is in place, and

§         That information be included on the number of plans currently approved and in the pipeline awaiting implementation.

The following additional amendments to Appendix 1 were now proposed:

§         The deletion of paragraph 2; and

§         ‘Natural Environment’ paragraph 3, line 2 be amended to replace the word ‘will’ with the phrase ‘may as a last resort’.

RESOLVED

That the consultation response detailed in Appendix 1 of the report be approved, subject to the amendments proposed by the Strategic Planning Board and Cabinet, and to the additional amendments now proposed.