Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive Apologies for Absence from Cabinet members. 

There were no Apologies for Absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2018 as a correct record.

Cabinet authorised the Chairman to sign, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2018.

There were no announcements.

There were no public questions.

Councillor Brian Milnes (Vice-Chairman, Scrutiny and Overview Committee) said that the recent ICT outage had been of grave concern to the Committee. Members were grateful for the positive way in which officers had responded to that concern. The Committee was of the view that an ICT Shared Service Security Policy was long overdue, and had established a Scrutiny Task and Finish Group to examine ways of improving system resilience.

Appendices 2, 3 and 4 are available online only. If you are currently viewing a hard copy of the agenda, please visit www.scambs.gov.uk, select ‘Show all services’ then follow the links from ‘Councillor Information’.

Cabinet

(a)             Approved the Cambridge Northern Fringe Issues and Options 2 for Regulation 18 public consultation in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 for a period of six weeks jointly with Cambridge City Council (Appendix 1 to the agenda report);

(b)             Approved the Statement of Consultation (Appendix 2)

(c)             Noted the findings of the Interim Sustainability Appraisal and Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendices 3 and 4)

(d)             Delegated authority to the Deputy Leader to consider and agree, as is consistent with this Council’s Corporate Objectives, any changes proposed by Cambridge City Council.

(e)             Delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in liaison with the Deputy Leader, to make editorial changes to the Issues and Options Report and supporting documents prior to the commencement of the consultation period (to comprise minor amendments and factual updates and clarifications.

Cabinet considered a report seeking its agreement to the joint Cambridge Northern Fringe Area Action Plan (AAP) Issues and Options 2 and supporting documents being published for consultation.

The Leader expressed the view that the consultation exercise should be promoted specifically among stateholders. Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins requested that the questions in the consultation document be set out separately from the main text. Councillor Hazel Smith commended the document highly readable. She did point out however that the images needed to be at a higher resolution, and that Figure 3.3 (map of existing community facilities) should also indicate the presence of such facilities as Tesco and Milton Community Centre.

The Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development stressed the importance of the AAP being found to be sound. It must provide for the water treatment works being relocated.

Councillor Brian Milnes (Vice-Chairman, Scrutiny and Overview Committee) said that the Committee had identified, as significant, the issues of transport (including car-free areas), infrastructure, permeability through the site, and capacity at Cambridge North railway station.

After further discussion, including discussion about style and language, Cabinet

(a)             Approved the Cambridge Northern Fringe Issues and Options 2 for Regulation 18 public consultation in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 for a period of six weeks jointly with Cambridge City Council (Appendix 1 to the agenda report);

(b)             Approved the Statement of Consultation (Appendix 2)

(c)             Noted the findings of the Interim Sustainability Appraisal and Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendices 3 and 4)

(d)             Delegated authority to the Deputy Leader to consider and agree, as is consistent with this Council’s Corporate Objectives, any changes proposed by Cambridge City Council.

(e)             Delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development in liaison with the Deputy Leader, to make editorial changes to the Issues and Options Report and supporting documents prior to the commencement of the consultation period (to comprise minor amendments and factual updates and clarifications.

Cabinet agreed

(a)             the draft Statement of Community Involvement (attached at Appendix 1) for consultation purposes;

(b)             that the consultation period will take place for six weeks between Monday 4 February and Monday 18 March 2019;

(c)             that the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development is granted delegated authority, in liaison with the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, to make any editing changes identified prior to publication for consultation.

Cabinet considered a report seeking its agreement for the draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) to be published for consultation purposes.  The SCI had been prepared jointly by South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council and set out the approach to community engagement in planning matters.

The Leader welcomed the clarity and accessibility of the SCI and noted that Parish Councils in South Cambridgeshire (and Neighbourhood Forums in Cambridge) would be consulted on all appropriate planning applications as statutory consultees.

After further discussion, Cabinet agreed

(a)             the draft Statement of Community Involvement (attached at Appendix 1) for consultation purposes;

(b)             that the consultation period will take place for six weeks between Monday 4 February and Monday 18 March 2019; and

(c)             that the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development is granted delegated authority, in liaison with the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, to make any editing changes identified prior to publication for consultation.

Appendix 1 is available online only. If you are currently viewing a hard copy of the agenda, please visit www.scambs.gov.uk, select ‘Show all services’ then follow the links from ‘Councillor Information’.

Cabinet agreed

(a)             to publish the South Cambridgeshire Authority Monitoring Report 2017-2018 (included as Appendix 1), with any further minor editing changes delegated to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they relate to technical matters;

(b)             that, in future, a Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Report is produced, and that these future Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Reports will be agreed for publication by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council), unless the Authority Monitoring Report identifies any significant issue with the implementation of any Local Plan or Area Action Plan policy that requires more detailed consideration by Cabinet;

(c)             that a decision on whether to submit a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement (relating to five year housing land supply) to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for consideration will be made by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council) and that the decision will be made before 1 April each year as required by national planning guidance;

(d)             that, whether or not it is decided to prepare a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement, the housing trajectory and five year supply calculations will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council);

(e)             to seek agreement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge should be considered together for the purposes of the Housing Delivery Test; and

(f)               that, if on publication of the annual Housing Delivery Test results, an Action Plan is necessary in this or future years, it will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting.

Cabinet considered a report setting out the current processes for monitoring the Local Plan and housing delivery, and proposing a new approach to the decision-making processes for the preparation, consultation, publication and submission of monitoring documents, such as the Authority Monitoring Report and housing trajectory.

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins invited Cabinet to bear in mind her concern about the length of time between issues arising and being reported. The ideal “time lag” would be one to three months, rather than 12 months.

The Planning Policy Manager summarised the new method of calculating five-year housing land supply and, in response to a query from Councillor Neil Gough, said the aim was to achieve more meaningful data as soon as possible by achieving increased joined-up working across the Council.

Councillor Philippa Hart observed that the Council would be judged on its deliverability of new housing, so better monitoring was essential. She reminded officers that local Members were ideally placed to provide up-to-date information in that regard.

Councillor Peter Topping referred to paragraph 3(e) of the report from the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development, which indicated that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) might agree that South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council should be considered together for the purposes of the Housing Delivery Test. The Planning Policy Manager commented that data would nevertheless still be acquired on a site-by-site basis.

Cabinet agreed

(a)             to publish the South Cambridgeshire Authority Monitoring Report 2017-2018 (included as Appendix 1), with any further minor editing changes delegated to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they relate to technical matters;

(b)             that, in future, a Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Report is produced, and that these future Greater Cambridge Authority Monitoring Reports will be agreed for publication by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council), unless the Authority Monitoring Report identifies any significant issue with the implementation of any Local Plan or Area Action Plan policy that requires more detailed consideration by Cabinet;

(c)             that a decision on whether to submit a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement (relating to five year housing land supply) to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for consideration will be made by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council) and that the decision will be made before 1 April each year as required by national planning guidance;

(d)             that, whether or not it is decided to prepare a Greater Cambridge Annual Position Statement, the housing trajectory and five year supply calculations will be agreed by the Lead Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council);

(e)             to seek agreement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that South Cambridgeshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

6 February 2019 starting at 9.30am

Cabinet noted that its next scheduled meeting would be on 6 February 2019, starting at 9.30am.