Agenda item

To adopt the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy

Members are reminded to bring their copy of the documentation to the meeting.

A limited number of paper copies of the documents will be available at the meeting for members of the public to refer to, but not to take away.

Copies of the documentation are available for purchase on request. For further details contact the Local Plan Team by telephone number 01270 685893 or by e-mail: localplan@cheshireeast.gov.uk

(Having declared an interest and fettering of discretion respectively, Cllrs B Dooley and M Jones left the meeting during consideration of this matter).

A report was submitted requesting that Council approve the adoption of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy as part of the Council’s Statutory Development Plan. This followed previous approvals by Council for the Submission version of the Local Plan Strategy (28 February 2014), the Proposed Changes version of the Local Plan Strategy (26 February 2016) and the approval to consult on proposed Main Modifications (15 Dec 2016).

The Strategic Planning Board, at its meeting on of 24 July 2017 and Cabinet, at its meeting on 26 July 2017, had considered this matter and the relevant minute from both meetings had been circulated around the Chamber in advance of the meeting.

The Mayor reminded Members that the decision today was whether or not to adopt the local plan strategy in the form presented. Government Advice within the Planning Practice Guidance advised that a local plan, following examination, would have been through a significant process locally to engage communities and other interests in discussions about the future of the area, and it was to be expected that the authority would proceed quickly with adopting a plan that had been found, through examination by a planning inspector, to be sound. Timely adoption would enable the document to become part of the development plan, and its policies to benefit from the statutory weight in planning decisions. Council could only adopt a development plan document in accordance with the recommendations of the Inspector, save for minor modifications which did not materially affect the substance of the policies. There was, therefore, no scope to make material changes to this document at this stage. He, therefore, encouraged Councillors to concentrate on the substantive issue of whether or not to adopt the Plan.

A motion to approve the recommendation, as set out in paragraph 2.3 and 2.4 of the report, was proposed and seconded.

AMENDMENT

An amendment to include the following additional recommendation (2.5) was proposed and seconded:-

“That this Council recommends to Cabinet that work should immediately start on a new Local plan that takes into account the implementation of HS2 and the correct air quality information”.

The amendment was put to the meeting and was declared lost.

The substantive motion was then put and a requisition for a named vote was submitted and duly supported. The motion was put to the meeting with the following results:-

For

Cllr A Arnold, Cllr G Baggot, Cllr Rachel Bailey, Cllr Rhoda Bailey, Cllr G

Barton, Cllr P Bates, Cllr G Baxendale, D Bebbington, E Brooks,

Cllr D Brown, C Browne, Cllr P Butterill, Cllr J Clowes,

Cllr H Davenport, Cllr S Davies, Cllr M Deakin, Cllr T Dean,Cllr L Durham, Cllr S Edgar, Cllr JP Findlow, Cllr R Fletcher, Cllr H Gaddum, Cllr S Gardiner, Cllr S Gardner, Cllr L Gilbert, Cllr P Groves, Cllr J Hammond, Cllr D Hough, Cllr O Hunter, Cllr A Kolker, Cllr J Macrae, Cllr D Marren, Cllr A Martin, Cllr R Menlove, Cllr G Merry, Cllr B Moran, Cllr J Nicholas, Cllr M Parsons, Cllr S Pochin, Cllr M Simon, Cllr M Simon, Cllr L Smetham, Cllr D Stockton, Cllr G Walton, Cllr G Wait, Cllr B Walmsley, Cllr G Walton, Cllr J Weatherill, Cllr H Wells-Bradshaw, Cllr G Williams, Cllr J Wray.

Against

Cllr D Bailey, Cllr M Beanland, Cllr S Brookfield, Cllr B Burkhill, Cllr S Carter, Cllr C Chapman, Cllr S Corcoran, Cllr D Flude, Cllr T Fox, Cllr M Hardy, Cllr S

Hogben, Cllr J Jackson, Cllr L Jeuda, Cllr D Mahon, Cllr N Mannion, Cllr J Rhodes, Cllr B Roberts, Cllr J Saunders, Cllr M Sewart, Cllr A Stott.

Not Voting

Cllr A Moran.

The motion was declared carried, with 49 votes for, 20 against and 1 not

voting.

RESOLVED

That Council, having taken into account the recommendations of the Strategic Planning Board and Cabinet, adopts the Local Plan Strategy, as submitted to the Secretary of State on 20th May 2014, subject to the inclusion of:

(i) the Main Modifications recommended by the Inspector necessary to make the Plan sound (Appendix 1c of the report);

(ii) the schedule of Additional Modifications (Appendix 2 of the report).