Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no announcements.

To receive Apologies for Absence from Cabinet members. 

There were no Apologies for Absence from Cabinet Members, but Councillor Grenville Chamberlain, Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee sent an apology for absence.

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing declared an interest in item 8 (North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19)) as a Member on the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Lead Cabinet Member for Business Recovery and Skills, declared an interest in item 8 (North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19)) as the Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council.

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 6 December 2021 as a correct record.

Cabinet authorised the Leader to sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 6 December 2021.

a)    From Mr. Daniel Fulton

Is the council in possession of the automated event log from Dante Controller from the planning committee meeting on 8 September 2021, and is the council in possession of the automated logs of 1:1 messaging in Microsoft Teams that are stored on the device in use by the democratic services officer present at the planning committee meeting on 8 September 2021? If not, when was the evidence in question destroyed?

b)    From Mrs. Jennie Conroy

See statement in attachment – Appendix A

c)    From Mrs. Catherine Martin

The AAP proposes introducing 15,000 jobs into the area. Bearing in mind that many people will be travelling from locations where there is poor access to public transport, how many people do you estimate will be travelling to the area by car?

There will also be 4500 densely packed homes. 

Your transport studies concede that the roads are already at capacity and local residents really do not want more traffic misery. How much confidence do you have in the ability to control the development by the notion of a ‘trip budget’?

d)    From Mr. James Littlewood

See question in attachment – Appendix B

Cabinet received four public questions ahead of the meeting.

a)    From Mr. Daniel Fulton, who attended in person:

Before asking his question, Mr. Daniel Fulton said he wanted to correct the record and that there had been five public questions, one of which was refused.  The Leader explained that the Council had e mailed the questioner on the 6 January to explain the question had been refused on the grounds that the council was made aware the matter may be the subject of legal proceedings.

Mr. Fulton then asked his question:

Is the council in possession of the automated event log from Dante Controller from the planning committee meeting on 8 September 2021, and is the council in possession of the automated logs of 1:1 messaging in Microsoft Teams that are stored on the device in use by the democratic services officer present at the planning committee meeting on 8 September 2021? If not, when was the evidence in question destroyed?

Response from Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council:

You have previously asked for this information and we have provided responses to three requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

While we are not obliged to inform you whether or not the data is held (as explained in response 10130), it was made clear to you in our FOIA responses 9704 and 9779 that we do not hold the data you seek as this is an outsourced service.

With regards to your reference to the automated logs, again I refer you to previous requests you have made on this topic under FOI requests 9779 and 10130 and our outstanding request that you clarify the nature of the data you are seeking in FOI 10154.

In order to determine whether we can confirm the existence of data, or disclose it, we need to understand if it falls within the category which could represent a security risk to the organisation. We have previously asked that you make it clear whether you are seeking messages relating to technical information or general communications. We await your reply.

Please note we have also informed you and reiterate this now, that further requests concerning technical information from Council systems regarding the meeting on 8^th September 2021 will be classed as vexatious and not responded to – clear explanation and reasoning for refusal/exemptions has already been provided on several occasions.

The Leader invited Mr. Fulton to ask a supplementary question:

Mr. Fulton made a statement disagreeing with the response provided by the Leader but did not ask a supplementary question.

b)    From Jennie Conroy, who attended remotely:

National Planning Policy requires developing local plans to be flexible to accommodate changes in circumstances; what appeared to be the most appropriate course of action to attain a planning objective in one year may be less apparent a few years on. It is also a requirement that all reasonable alternatives have been identified and considered, that the plans are achievable and reflect National and Local Planning Policies.

There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

At the Leader’s invitation, Cabinet received the Scrutiny and Overview report summarising the meeting held on Thursday, 16 December 2021 relating to the following agenda item:

• North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19)

Cabinet:

Confirmed the Council’s position as set out in the Statement of Case for the Public Inquiry (Appendix A), and noted the delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to approve and submit the Proof of Evidence and Statement of Common Ground on behalf of the Council.

Cabinet received the Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements consultation response. Councillor Neil Gough, the Deputy Leader, introduced the report, noting the critical importance to the infrastructure project, and the Council’s in principle support for a station at the south of Cambridge, but highlighted how the Council continued to raise specific concerns detailed in the report.

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing, agreed with the comments from the Deputy Leader, but raised concerns at the lack of biodiversity of the plan.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Lead Cabinet Member for Business Recovery, noted that Cambridgeshire County Council had also raised issues with the lack of biodiversity net gain set out in the proposals.

The Leader thanked Officers for their work, and the robust response to the consultation, and Cabinet:

Confirmed the Council’s position as set out in the Statement of Case for the Public Inquiry (Appendix A), and noted the delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to approve and submit the Proof of Evidence and Statement of Common Ground on behalf of the Council.

Appendix I1: Typologies Study and Development Capacity Assessment had previously been published with two appendices (Appendix A and Appendix B) needing to be updated. This has now been added for completeness whilst the document has been updated and reformatted to reflect editorial changes including compatibility with accessibility requirements.

Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) (Appendix A1) and Proposed Submission Policies Map (Appendix A2) for future public consultation, contingent upon the separate Development Control Order being undertaken by Anglian Water for the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant being approved; 

b)    Noted the Draft Final Sustainability Report (Appendix B), and Habitats Regulation Assessment (Appendix C) and agree them as supporting documents to the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) that will also be subject to future public consultation; 

c)    Agreed the following supporting documents to future public consultation: 

a.    Statement of Consultation, including the Councils’ consideration of and responses to representations received to the draft North East Cambridge Area Action Plan (Regulation 18) consultation 2020 (Appendix D); 

b.    Duty to Cooperate Compliance Statement (Appendix E); 

c.     Draft Duty to Cooperate Statement of Common Ground (Appendix F); 

d.    Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix G); 

e.    Topic papers (Appendix H). 

d)    Agreed the findings of the following background evidence documents prepared by the Councils that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany future public consultation: 

a.    Typologies Study and Development Capacity Assessment (Appendix I1); 

b.    Surface Water Drainage Core Principles (Appendix I2); 

c.     Chronology of the feasibility investigations of redevelopment of the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant (Appendix I3).

e)     Noted the findings of the background evidence documents that have informed the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan: Proposed Submission and are proposed to accompany the public consultation (see Background documents to this report); 

f)      Agreed that any subsequent material amendments be made by the Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport in consultation with Chair and Spokes, and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Member for Planning, both in consultation with the JLPAG; 

g)    Agreed that any subsequent minor amendments and editing changes be delegated to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic in consultation with Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport and by the South Cambridgeshire Lead Cabinet Member for Planning.

Cabinet received the Proposed Submission for the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan. Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery introduced the report, thanking the Officers for their work in drafting the proposal, and detailing the sustainable regeneration and investment in the North East of Cambridge over the next twenty years, minimising emissions by encouraging modal shift to public transport. This report was brought to Cabinet following the public consultation in July 2020.

The Leader invited Councillor Judith Rippeth, Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee to present the comments from their most recent meeting. Councillor Judith Rippeth thanked the Officers for delivering the final report, and the Scrutiny and Governance Adviser for the summary provided for Cabinet. The Committee noted the concerns about the capacity of Milton Country Park being exceeded and noted how this needed to be addressed but welcomed the commitment to the 20% Biodiversity Net Gain. The Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development was invited to respond and said that the AAP had considered the range of open space requirements and sought to strike a balance with the spaces provided on site. Policy in the AAP would provide for contributions to be made off site to meet needs where appropriate but that the proposals for expansion of Milton Country Park were not assured – and for this reason it would not be appropriate to earmark contributions explicitly to this location at this time.

Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, believed that the proposal allowed for a sustainable form of development and should not be delayed, in order to enable the DCO process and subsequently the Greater Cambridge Local Plan to continue on their projected timetables. This in turn would ensure the councils have an up to date development plan for the area and prevent speculative development across the villages and Green Belt as was previously the case before the adoption of the current Local Plan.

Councillor Neil Gough, the Deputy Leader, was supportive of the report, and the proposed enhancements to the area, alongside the broader plans within the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, and access for residents to green, open spaces.

Councillor Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licencing, mentioned the potential for reducing car traffic as part of the proposal.

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, was pleased with the number of affordable houses that were part of the proposal.

Councillor Dr. Richard Williams asked whether delaying the Area Action Plan at this time would impact the Council’s Five-Year Housing Land Supply, and raised concerns about the water supply for the proposed development, requesting the project be delayed until the Water Management Plan had been published. The Leader invited the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development to respond. He confirmed that the AAP did not make a contribution to the Five-Year Housing Land Supply but delaying the plan process, may impact upon the Council having an up to date Local Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.