25 July 2012 - East Devon District Council

*26 Minutes of Cabinet and Committees
Arising from consideration of the minutes:-
25
Meeting of the Council, 25 July 2012
a) Planning Policy – New East Devon Local Plan 2006 – 2026
Special Meeting of Development Management Committee (Minute 11)
Proposed amendments (continued)
Councillor Allen amended his proposal in line with the suggestion from
Councillor Hughes. This was then put to the vote and carried.
RESOLVED that a report on the process involved in producing the
Local Plan and associated consultation be included on
the Forward Plan of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee for consideration at its March 2013 meeting.
(Councillor Stuart Hughes declared a personal interest in this item as Chairman of
the Devon Flood Risk Management Partnership, DCC Cabinet Member for
Highways and Transportation and Member of the SW Regional Flood Committee).
*27 Motion 1 – Housing and strategic planning
The following motion (in the names of Councillors Trevor Cope, Roger
Giles, Douglas Hull and Ben Ingham and Claire Wright), was proposed by
Councillor Roger Giles and Seconded by Councillor Claire Wright:
“This Council believes that it should have the ability to decide the number
of houses to be provided within its boundaries as part of the strategic
planning process.
Key factors to be considered in arriving at the appropriate level of housing
provision include local need, the views of residents of East Devon, and
the environmental, infrastructure and other constraints.
This Council is concerned that windfall developments can distort the
agreed housing allocation. This Council therefore calls on Government to
change the guidance to Councils producing Local Plans so that windfall
developments are included in the overall housing allocations, rather than
additional to the housing allocations.”
In proposing the motion, Councillor Roger Giles said that the allocation of
housing had been imposed by Central Government rather than in
response to local conditions and need. He said that some development
was essential for the local community but he questioned where this
should be and the numbers involved. He said that disregarding windfall
developments was damaging and gave the example of regular windfall
development within West Hill.
In seconding the motion, Councillor Claire Wright said that windfall
development in West Hill was a significant trend which should be taken
into account.