Agenda and minutes

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda

A number of Councillors who were existing County Councillors, Borough Councillors and Town and Parish Councillors declared a personal interest in the business of the  meeting en bloc.

        Councillor Barry Moran declared a personal interest in respect of all the agenda items, by virtue of the fact that he was the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economic Development and in accordance with the Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during consideration of all the items.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a total period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the Committee on any matter relevant to the work of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers.

Note: In order for officers to undertake any background research it would be helpful if questions were submitted at least one working day before the meeting.

There were no members of the public present who wished to address the Panel.

RESOLVED

             That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2008 be approved as a   

            correct record, subject to the correction of Councillor G M Walton’s initials.

To recommend a Cheshire East response – Reporting Officer: Andrew Ross  

         Following Government’s approval of Greater Manchester’s TIF proposals for Programme Entry Status, a consultation exercise had been launched to test whether the plans were publicly acceptable.  The deadline for comments was 10 October 2008.  The Panel was requested to consider the report on the TIF consultation exercise and, subject to any changes as a result of comments received, recommend that Cabinet approve it as the basis for the Cheshire East Council’s response, details of which were set out in the report.

          A number of schemes which would benefit Cheshire residents, should congestion charges be introduced, had been identified and these were set out in an appendix to the report.

          It was noted that Sir Howard Burnstein had suggested, as part of the public consultation exercise, that a mobile exhibition be used to promote the TIF scheme, which could be made available for use in neighbouring authorities.  Arrangements were now being made to ensure that the exhibition was made available at a number of locations in Cheshire and it was proposed that this would include Poynton and Wilmslow.  A short newsletter had also been prepared by GMPTE and had been made available to neighbouring authorities, to distribute in libraries and information points, as well as publication on websites.  A copy of the leaflet was appended to the report.

          In considering the report Members of the Panel raised the following issues:

          (i)      Concern was expressed that no real consultation had taken place with Macclesfield Borough Council or the Cheshire East Shadow Council and it was considered that, as traffic would come from the Cheshire East area, the Greater Manchester area could not be considered in isolation.

          (ii)     It was queried why the mobile exhibition could not go to other areas, including Disley.  It was reported that the exhibition had only been offered for two days and there was no opportunity for it to go to other areas.  It was noted that GMPTE had published a list of all the exhibition dates, however, all others were within the conurbation.

          (iii)    The proposal to improve the rail service, including improvements to some stations, was welcomed.  However, it was queried how some of the small stations would cope with this.  It was reported that, whilst there were limitations as to what could be achieved, there were a number of initiatives through the community Rail Partnerships, some of which could be realised, if the proposals went ahead.  In addition, a study of the Manchester Rail Hub was taking place, which would try to achieve capacity improvements on the rail network.  The study was vital in that it set out areas of improvement to the rail service connectivity for Cheshire East.

          (iv)    Reference was made to the inadequacy and congestion on the rail service from Buxton to Manchester.

          (v)     Concern was expressed that the proposals were not supported by all AGMA authorities and that they did not accord with the work that DEFRA had been carrying out relating to economic activity, particularly in rural areas.  It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To appraise the Panel of relevant timetables and key issues – Reporting Officer: Alan Millington 

         Consideration was given to a report relating to a draft Local Development Scheme for Cheshire East and to consider any comments that Members of the Panel might wish to make to Cabinet when consideration was given to this matter.  The Cheshire East Draft Local Development Scheme was attached as an appendix to the report.

          In considering the report, Members of the Panel raised the following issues:

          (i)      The Portfolio Holder referred to paragraph 12 of the draft scheme and requested that the conclusions from the formal marking and ranking assessment of risk which had taken place, be included in the document.  This was agreed.

          (ii)     Reference was made to the new PPS12 and Regulations, which allowed Local Authorities to agree strategic sites in their core strategies and it was agreed that this should be made more explicit in the document.

          (iii)    It was noted that Congleton Borough Council would be considering this matter, at its Council meeting in October and would be making a representation on the document, in terms of the content of some of the plans, subject to Council approval.

          (iv)    It was noted that there were a number of typographical errors, which would be corrected.

          RESOLVED

          That Cabinet be recommended to agree the submission of the draft Local Development Scheme to GONW, subject to the above comments.

Car Parking (27 August 2008)

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (17 September 2008)

Local Development Framework (9 September 2008)

Strategic Developments (17 September 2008)

Tatton Park

Waste (8 September 2008)

         Feedback was provided in respect of the Task Groups, which had been established at the previous meeting.  It was noted that it was proposed, in future, to circulate the minutes of the Task Groups to all Members of the Panel.

             Car Parking

          The first meeting of the Car Parking Task Group had taken place on 27 August 2008 and issues discussed had included progress to date and key issues prior to Vesting Day, the need for a decision within Congleton Borough for enforcement of both on and off street parking, funding for bringing existing town centre car parks up to necessary standards, the urgent need for Cheshire County Council to develop and adopt residents parking and civil enforcement policies, consultation on residents parking permit schemes and discussions regarding consistent policies.  It was noted that the next meeting would take place on Wednesday 8 October 2008, at 10.00am, at Pyms Lane Depot.

          Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership

          The first meeting of the Task Group had taken place on 17 September 2008.  The Terms of Reference for the new Crime and Disorder Partnership had been agreed.  It was noted that there were three separate documents for each of the three Districts and it was proposed to link these documents and to use the current expertise from each of the Councils.  There would be one voting representative on the Crime and Disorder Partnership and two further non-voting Members from the other Districts.  A number of visits had also been agreed, including the police headquarters and Styal Prison and it was also proposed to contact the Magistrates with a view to arranging a visit.  The Task Group had also recommended other areas for consideration, including CCTV and facial recognition software.

   Local Development Framework

          The first meeting of the Task Group had taken place on 9 September 2008.  Terms of Reference had been agreed and an update given on transitional LDF Regulations and the draft Local Development Scheme.  Consideration had also been given to the Statement of Community Involvement, whereby it had been recommended to wait until the Planning Bill Regulations were in place before the new Authority started work on the combined SCI.  Discussion had also taken place in respect of LDF Members’ training needs and it was considered that the PAS Member training package should be made available, as soon as possible.  The next meeting would take place on 23 October 2008 at 2.00pm, at Westfields.

          Strategic Development

The first meeting of the Task Group had taken place on 17 September.  Terms of Reference had been agreed.  Andrew Ross had attended and highlighted all the current strategic highway projects/issues.  Andrew Farrow had attended and outlined matters concerning minerals and waste.  Paul Irwin had attended and discussed detailed matters in connection with the Regional Spatial Strategy Partial Review.  David Sparkes had attended and discussed the review of the North West Regional Housing Strategy and the Cheshire Sub-regional Housing Strategy 2008 to 2012, together with the future of the Housing Corporation.  It had been suggested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To consider the establishment of new Task Groups that have been proposed for Development Management and Energy Efficiency.

        It was recognised that there was a need for the establishment of new Task Groups for the areas of Development Management and Energy Efficiency.  As previously referred to, it was also proposed to establish a Manchester Airport Sub Task Group.  It would be necessary to appoint Members to these Task Groups at some point in the near future.  It was noted that there was a shortfall of representatives in some of the geographical areas and it would be useful to appoint two Members from each of the current District Councils.  It was agreed that the Chairman would contact the Leaders of the respective District Councils, where appropriate, to identify representation, where there was a possible shortfall.  It was noted that representatives did not have to be a Member of the Places Advisory Panel.

          It was agreed that Councillor Derek Hough be appointed as a representative on the Waste Panel.

To consider the dates proposed for the site visits as follows:

            Macclesfield                - 10 October 2008

            Congleton                    - 26 September 2008

            Crewe & Nantwich      - 1 October 2008

Arrangements for site visits were noted as follows:

          Congleton - 26 September 2008

          Crewe & Nantwich - 1 October 2008

          Macclesfield - 10 October 2008

          A further reminder would be sent to all Members of the Panel, to include joining instructions.

Wednesday 5 November 2008 at 2.00pm in Sandbach 

Tuesday, 16 December 2008 at 2.00pm in Crewe

Tuesday, 27 January 2009 at 2.00pm in Macclesfield

Wednesday, 11 March 2009 at 2.00pm in Sandbach

Tuesday, 21 April 2009 at 2.00pm in Crewe                                                                            

Future meetings would take place as follows:

          Wednesday 5 November 2008, at 2.00pm, in Sandbach

Tuesday 16 December 2008, at 2.00pm, in Crewe

Tuesday 27 January 2009, at 2.00pm, in Macclesfield

Wednesday 11 March 2009, at 2.00pm, in Sandbach

Tuesday 21 April 2009 at 2.00pm in Crewe