Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest for the item on this agenda.

Councillor David Bard declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in Site H1/c in Sawston due to his wife being the Chair of Ward’s Charity, which owned part of the proposed site.  He was granted a dispensation to both speak and vote by the Monitoring Officer on 26 February 2014 and so could fully participate in the meeting.  In addition, Councillor Bard declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Sawston Parish Council, due to the fact that the Parish Council had made representations during the Local Plan consultation process.

Councillor Nigel Cathcart declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in relation to Policy H/9 regarding the proposal to increase the number of homes on any one site requiring an affordable housing contribution from 2 to 3, as he was the owner of a potential site in Bassingbourn that would be affected by this change.  He was granted a dispensation to both speak and vote by the Monitoring Officer on 5 March 2014 and so could fully participate in the meeting.

Councillor Kevin Cuffley declared a non-pecuniary interest due to personally making a representation to the Local Plan consultation.  In addition, he declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Sawston Parish Council due to the Parish Council having also made representations to the consultation.  Councillor Cuffley indicated that he would listen to and consider all options arising from the discussion and information presented at the meeting before making any personal decision on the Local Plan item.

Councillor Simon Edwards declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Oakington Parish Council due to the fact that the Parish Council had made representations as part of the Local Plan consultation process.  He stated that he came to this meeting with a fresh and open mind.

Councillor Alison Elcox declared a non-pecuniary interest due to having personally made representations during the Local Plan consultation and was open to considering all options before making a personal decision on the Local Plan item.  She also declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Arrington Parish Council due to the Parish Council having made representations to the consultation.  Councillor Elcox would be considering all of the evidence presented at the meeting before reaching a final view.

Councillor Tumi Hawkins declared a non-pecuniary interest as she had made personal representations at all stages of the Local Plan consultation and had commented in the media to encourage local residents to engage in the process.  Councillor Hawkins stated that she would consider all evidence presented before reaching a final view.

Councillor Roger Hickford declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was a member of Linton Parish Council at the time it made representations to the Local Plan consultation process.  He stated that he came to this meeting with an open mind.

Councillor James Hockney declared a non-pecuniary interest due to having personally made representations during the Local Plan consultation process. Councillor Hockney would be considering all of the evidence presented at the meeting before reaching a final view.

Councillor Clayton Hudson, given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

The Chairman has agreed that the following procedure will be followed for the consideration of this item:

Presentation of petitions

To receive any petitions received since the Planning Policy and Localism Portfolio Holder Meeting held on 11 February 2014.

Consideration of the report

The report will be considered in three parts as follows:

1)         Development Targets, Strategy and Strategic Sites (Chapters 1 – 3)

2)         Village Sites (Chapter 7 – Policies H/1 to H/4 and any site specific proposals in Chapters 4 – 10)

3)         Development Management Policies (Chapters 4 – 10)

Subject to the suspension of Standing Order 14.4 (length and content of speeches), Members can speak once for up to three minutes on each of the above parts, other than the Portfolio Holder who will be entitled to respond to individual questions or points as they are made during debate of each part.

Closing statement

The Portfolio Holder will be invited to make a closing statement at the end of the debate.

Vote

Council will be asked to vote on the recommendations contained within the report, as set out in paragraphs 3(a) – 3(g) of the report (pages 3, 4 and 5 of the agenda pack).

Any amendments proposed need to be considered minor enough not to negate the motion as explained in the options section of the report at item 3.  Advice on amendments, as to what constitutes a minor amendment, should be sought from the Planning Policy Team prior to the meeting.

Council RESOLVED that:

(a)        the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan: Proposed Submission document and Proposed Policies Map be ‘submitted’ for examination in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, together with the sustainability appraisal and associated evidence documents in support of the Plan, with proposed Major Modifications (as contained in Appendix A of the Portfolio Holder Meeting report) and proposed Minor Changes (as contained in Appendix B of the Portfolio Holder Meeting report), subject to a minor amendment to paragraph 2 of Policy HQ/2: Public Art and New Development so that it reads:

            “The provision of public art must involve the relevant Parish Council and the local community and could be community-led and have regard to the local circumstances of the site and/or local aspirations.”

(b)        the following updated and additional evidence base documents be submitted with the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (as appended to the Portfolio Holder Meeting report):

·         Key Issues and Assessment (Update to the Audit Trail at Annex A of the Sustainability Appraisal Report);

·         Statement of Consultation Update;

·         Duty to Co-operate Statement Update;

·         Great and Little Abington Parish Council Proposals: including consultation leaflet and results of consultation;

·         Graveley Parish Council Proposals: including consultation leaflet; 

·         Sawston Transport Modelling;

·         Development Frameworks evidence paper update;

·         Sustainability Appraisal – update for Parish Council led proposals for The Abingtons;

·         Habitats Regulations Assessment update;

·         Cambourne Retail and Employment Study - Explores retail and employment development in the village and opportunities to support future development;

·         Strategic Spatial Priorities: Addressing the Duty to Co?operate across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough;

·         Services and Facilities Study Update – once finalised;

·         Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

(c)        delegated authority be given to the Director of Planning and New Communities to make further additions to the schedules of changes during the course of the examination (except where changes would be of such significance as to substantially alter the meaning of a policy or allocation) and that the exercise of this delegation be reported back to Planning Policy and Localism Portfolio Holder through the course of the examination process.

(d)        the Director of Planning and New Communities is authorised to prepare and submit reports, proofs of evidence, technical papers, statements of common ground and other such documents required in the presentation of the Local Plan through the examination process, reflecting the Council’s agreed position on these matters and to take such other steps as are conducive or incidental to the submission and examination of the local plan.

(e)        supplementary changes be made to the Local Plan as contained in Appendix 2 of the report.

(f)        the following updated and additional evidence base documents be submitted with the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan:

·         Key Issues and Assessment (Update to the Audit Trail at Annex A of the Sustainability Appraisal Report), as set out in Appendix C of the Portfolio Holder Meeting report and addendum to include four missing sites reported orally to the Portfolio Holder Meeting as reflected in Appendix 3 of the report;

·         the  ...  view the full decision text for item 95.

Councillor David Bard, Chairman, introduced this item and stated that he intended to facilitate consideration of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan in three parts as follows:

1)         Development Targets, Strategy and Strategic Sites (Chapters 1 – 3);

2)         Village Sites (Chapter 7 – Policies H/1 to H/4 and any site specific proposals in Chapters 4 – 10);

3)         Development Management Policies (Chapters 4 – 10).

In order to accommodate this, Councillor Bard proposed that Standing Order 14.4 be suspended to allow for Members to speak once for up to three minutes on each of the three parts of this debate, other than the Portfolio Holder who would be entitled to respond to individual questions or points as they were made during debate of each part.  It was noted that this motion did not require a seconder, but at least two thirds of those Members in attendance needed to vote in favour for it to be carried.

Councillor Sebastian Kindersley moved an amendment, that Standing Order 14.4 be suspended to allow for Members to speak on an unlimited basis, in terms of the time they could speak and the number of occasions they were entitled to speak for.  Councillor John Williams seconded the amendment.

Upon being put to the vote, with 25 votes in favour, 28 votes against and 1 abstention, the amendment was lost.

Voting on the original motion, with 38 votes in favour, 11 votes against, 3 abstentions and 2 not voting, Council AGREED that Standing Order 14.4 be suspended to allow for Members to speak once for up to three minutes on each of the three parts of this debate, other than the Portfolio Holder who would be entitled to respond to individual questions or points as they were made during debate of each part.

In addition, Councillor Bard proposed that Standing Order 20.1 be suspended in order that Members did not have to stand to address the Chairman.  This was AGREED by Council.

Details of petitions that had been received were set out in the agenda, and two petition organisers were invited to present their petitions prior to consideration of the report, as follows:

E-petition by Mr Des O’Brien

Mr O’Brien submitted an e-petition consisting of 200 signatures, which asked the Council to invalidate the recent Local Plan consultation as it had wilfully ignored over 1700 objections to the new settlement developments at Bourn Airfield and West Cambourne. 

In making his presentation, Mr O’Brien stated that many lives over generations to come would be affected by the proposal for new settlement developments at Bourn Airfield and West Cambourne and pleaded that Members took the issue seriously for the sake of South Cambridgeshire’s future.  He said that the National Planning Policy Framework made a great play about local community leadership, with an emphasis on enhancement and improvement.  Focussing on the consultation process, Mr O’Brien said that the Council’s Planning Policy Team claimed that it had gone to great lengths to consult with the public, but in truth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.