AT A MEETING of the STRATEGIC PLANNING JOINT ADVISORY PANEL held on 2 April 2003 at The Castle, Winchester.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council:

Councillors: C.R.H. Davidovitz (Chairman); J.K. Glen; K. House; M.J. Roberts

Also in attendance Councillor Mrs E.M. Byrom

Portsmouth City Council:

Councillors: B. Maine; J. Patey

Southampton City Council:

Councillors: Mrs J. Baston; Mrs E.O. Cooke; T. Holden-Brown; S. Letts

Representatives of Hampshire District Councils were also in attendance as follows:

Councillors: Mrs S. Halstead, East Hampshire District Council
A. Mandry, Fareham Borough Council
S.G. Parker, Hart District Council
D.M. Farrow, Havant Borough Council
R.G.L. Dibbs, Rushmoor Borough Council
D.G.C. Roach, Test Valley Borough Council
Mrs J.A. Porter, Winchester City Council

With the concurrence of the Panel, Item 2 of the published agenda "Appointment of Chairman" was brought forward. Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils requested that the Panel consider deferring the appointment of a Chairman to the next meeting of the Panel, which would be after the May elections, thus avoiding the potential problem of appointing a Chairman who might not be re-elected to hold office. It was agreed that this would not pose a problem for this year's appointment as according to the rotational Chairmanship arrangements detailed in the Terms of Reference for the Panel, Hampshire County Council was due to take the Chair and County elections would not be held until 2005. It was therefore agreed that the appointment of a Chairman for the ensuing year would be undertaken at this meeting, but that item would be moved to the July meeting of the Panel for future years.

16. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Councillor K.B. Estlin be appointed Chairman of the Panel for the ensuing year.

Councillor Estlin was indisposed and therefore unable to attend the meeting. With the concurrence of the Panel, Councillor C.R.H. Davidovitz was appointed to take the Chair for this meeting only.

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COUNCILLOR C.R.H. DAVIDOVITZ IN THE CHAIR
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17. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should declare their personal interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, any declarations to be made at the time of the debate. No such declarations were made.

18. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2002 (Item 3 in the Minute Book) were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising thereon:

(i) Proposed National Parks

The Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that the position had not changed a great deal since the last meeting of the Panel. It was noted that the New Forest Public Inquiry was still running. An outcome was not expected until next year.


(ii) Councillor Letts asked if a study would be undertaken on affordable housing and if so, requested that a report on the findings be submitted to a future meeting of the Panel. The Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that the Housing Officers' Group of HIOWLA had been looking at the issues surrounding affordable housing. It would be necessary to join up all the work that had been carried out to date and the findings would be submitted to the Panel in due course. Affordable housing would also be discussed later in the proceedings under Item 9 of the published agenda "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future" - Implications for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton.

19. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman reported that a copy of the newsletter "Planning Hampshire's Future" had been distributed to Members. Further copies were available at the meeting.

The Chairman congratulated Simon Eden on his appointment as Chief Executive of Winchester City Council. Mr Eden was currently Executive Director of Development and Sustainability with Southampton City Council and would be taking up his new post upon the retirement of Winchester City Council's Chief Executive, David Cowan.

The Chairman confirmed that a letter and report had been received from the Berkeley Group plc in respect of Item 7 of the published agenda "Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review) Policy H4 Monitoring Paper 2003" and would be discussed later in the proceedings.

20. DEPUTATIONS

No requests to make a deputation had been received.

21. FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE STRATEGIC PLANNING OF HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which detailed the future arrangements for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton in the light of Government proposals set out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.

The Hampshire Director of Environment reported that following the cancellation of the Stakeholder Conference, which had been scheduled for 3 December 2002, the opportunity was taken to hold informal discussions instead. The meeting was attended by County, City and District Council Members and discussed the implications of the proposed legislation. This had proved to be very useful.

Members' attention was drawn to paragraph 6.1 of the report, which detailed the way ahead. It was noted that the South East England Regional Assembly Planning Committee was meeting that morning and was also considering a paper which was wholly consistent with the report before the Panel.

Detailed discussions on the sub-regional strategies for South Hampshire and the Blackwater Valley ensued. In response to Members' concerns as to whether any other areas on the fringes of Hampshire should be part of a sub-regional strategy which crosses the county boundary, it was suggested that informal discussions be held with a view to bringing a report to the next meeting of the Panel listing the areas that would have a strategy prepared over the next 12-18 months.

In respect of paragraph 2.3 of the report, Members felt it would be useful if the task team reports could be made available to them. The Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that arrangements would be made to share this information.

Amendments were proposed to the report's recommendations, substantive resolutions detailed below.

RESOLVED:

That Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council be recommended to:

(i) thank the task team members for their valuable contribution to the preparation of new strategic plans for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton;


(ii) cease work on the roll forward/review of the Hampshire County Structure Plan;


(iii) prepare, in conjunction with the South East England Regional Assembly and local planning authorities, project briefs for sub-regional strategies for South Hampshire and the Blackwater Valley;


(iv) explore with the South East England Regional Assembly how sub-regional strategies are to be progressed, as part of the proposed Regional Spatial Strategy, for any other areas which cross the Hampshire boundary; and


(v) discuss with the Hampshire local planning authorities the topics on which joint technical work could be undertaken to inform the preparation of Local Development Frameworks.

22. HAMPSHIRE COUNTY STRUCTURE PLAN (REVIEW) POLICY H4 MONITORING PAPER 2003

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 7 in the Minute Book) informing the Panel of the conclusions arising from consultation County Structure Plan (Review) 1996-2011 Policy H4 Monitoring Paper 2003 and the outcome of consultation.

The Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that a letter and a report from The Berkeley Group plc had been received which offered an alternative analysis of housing land supply for the county. The documentation had only been received on the afternoon of Monday 1^st April therefore officers had not had the opportunity to consider it in detail. The Berkeley Group plc would be thanked for their contribution and their report would be analysed in detail, with the outcomes being considered for inclusion in the next monitoring paper which would be published for consultation in November 2003.

During the ensuing discussion, it was noted that several Members felt very strongly that all district councils should identify their reserve provision of housing sites.

RESOLVED:

That the three Strategic Planning Authorities be recommended to:

(i) note the consultation responses and agree the proposed actions listed in the appendix;


(ii) agree no reserve sites be released at the present time;


(iii) urge all local planning authorities to take proactive steps to manage housing land supply to meet their Structure Plan baseline housing requirement and make provision for the reserve provision, where required;


(iv) agree that the existence or otherwise of reserve sites in local plans will not be a material consideration when deciding where to release any reserve housing provision, should the need arise; and


(v) thank all consultees who responded to this year's Monitoring Paper for their comments, enclosing a copy of the report and appendix and informing them of the decisions made by this Panel in respect of it.

23. HOUSING COMPLETIONS STUDY

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 8 in the Minute Book) informing the Panel of the conclusions arising from consultation on the Hampshire House Completions Study.

It was noted that the majority of Local Planning Authorities and other organisations who had been asked to comment on the Study indicated that they found it to be both comprehensive and thought provoking and there was general support for its conclusions. The main points made by the respondents were detailed in the report's appendix.

The Hampshire Director of Environment commented that the Government Office of the South East (GOSE) were pressing for assurances that the level of housing completions required for the South East was being met. GOSE were therefore encouraged to see that the Strategic Planning Authorities were taking their responsibilities seriously, with appropriate actions being put in place in order to take this matter forward.

RESOLVED:

That the three Strategic Planning Authorities agree that:

(i) they will work with local planning authorities, the South East England Regional Assembly, the South East England Development Agency, the Government Office for the South East and others, to help implement actions arising from the Completions Study;


(ii) they will discuss further with the organisations concerned the additional proposals set out in paragraphs 5.1 and 6.1 of the report; and


(iii) a follow-up report on the actions arising from the Completions Study and this report be prepared, following publication and analysis of the housing monitoring information for the period ending March 2003.

24. `SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE' - IMPLICATIONS FOR HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 9 in the Minute Book) detailing the key areas of the Communities Plan and the implications for future strategic planning activity.

It was noted that Members were particularly concerned about the provision of affordable housing, especially for key-workers. The report concluded that Hampshire may be faced with the prospect of receiving reduced funding for affordable housing as a result of the application of regional priorities and it would therefore be necessary for local authorities to argue the case for additional resources based on robust and up-to-date housing needs assessments.

RESOLVED:

That the three Strategic Planning Authorities note the contents of the Communities Plan and consider the implications for future strategic planning activity.

25. HAMPSHIRE LOCAL PLANS PROGRESS AND ISSUES

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 10 in the Minute Book) detailing how Local Planning Authorities were progressing with their local plans, including information on the current position regarding housing supply, urban capacity studies and Major Development Areas (MDAs).

The Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that following the last meeting of the Panel, the district statements that had been prepared had been reformatted on a common basis in order to facilitate comparison of key indicators and, in particular, house building information in respect of each Council's Local Plan.

Each District Council was asked to comment on the specific points raised in paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4 of the report. The information would be collated for inclusion in an update report to the Panel later in the year.

Councillor House requested that his opposition, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat County Group, to paragraph 3.2(i) of the report be officially recorded.

RESOLVED:

That the Strategic Planning Authorities work with Local Planning Authorities to address the following points (as concluded in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 of the report):-

1. Actions that can be taken by all Local Planning Authorities to help ensure
that Structure Plan policies are delivered and that the county's RPG
target for house completions is met:

(i) Plan - maintain progress on the adoption of local plans and expedite
progress on the development of MDAs;


(ii) Monitor - the number of full and outline residential consents and completions, and the output from identified, urban capacity and windfall sites; and


(iii) Manage - housing land supply. Work with landowners, developers and others to increase identified supply where monitoring shows a shortfall in either supply or completions.


2. In addition, Local Planning Authorities should address the following:


(i) Basingstoke and Deane - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions for the Structure Plan baseline and ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(ii) East Hampshire - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions to the Structure Plan baseline and ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(iii) Eastleigh - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions to the Structure Plan baseline, increase the number of residential planning consents, ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(iv) Fareham - identify reserve house provision;


(v) Hart - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions to the Structure Plan baseline, increase the number of residential planning consents and identify reserve housing provision;


(vi) Havant - ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(vii) New Forest - ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(viii) Portsmouth - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions to the Structure Plan baseline, increase the number of residential planning consents and ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(ix) Rushmoor - ensure that unidentified urban capacity sites come forward for development;


(x) Test Valley - increase the number of residential planning consents and identify reserve housing provision; and


(xi) Winchester - actively manage land supply in order to raise completions to the Structure Plan baseline and increase the number of residential planning consents.

26. HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON MINERALS AND WASTE LOCAL PLAN REVIEW

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability (Item 11 in the Minute Book) detailing the proposed way forward for the preparation of Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks (MWDFs) as envisaged in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, instead of continuing the Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste Local Plan Review (HPSMWLPR).

The Hampshire Director of Environment reported that considerable work had been carried out on to review mineral policies. It was noted that final MPG6 guidelines were still awaited. However, waste matters had not been taken forward and the County Council considered that a review of waste policies should now be urgently progressed and an integrated minerals and waste new-style framework be prepared. Preparation of such a framework would be subject to agreement of joint funding by the two cities of Portsmouth and Southampton. The Portsmouth City Planning Officer reported that whilst wishing to work together on the strategy, they were reserving their position in respect of a joint Plan and were seeking advice from GOSE on whether policies and proposals could be included in their Local Development Framework. In respect of Portsmouth's position, GOSE's representative, Mr Richards, clarified that they were unable to confirm what authorities could put in their Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) until new regulations were published.

In response to Members' questions, the Hampshire Director of Environment confirmed that the extent of site specific work could not be confirmed at this time but would arise out of the LDF process. It was also noted that the financial arrangements for the Board of Project Integra were currently under review.

An additional recommendation was proposed, substantive resolutions detailed below.

RESOLVED:

1. that, subject to the City Councils considering the views of the Government Office for the South East on options for Mineral and Waste Development Frameworks, the preparation of a joint integrated Hampshire (including Portsmouth and Southampton) Minerals and Waste Development Framework be endorsed.


2. That, following the decision on Mineral and Waste Development Frameworks in Recommendation 1, officers be authorised to draw up a funding agreement based on one of the options as set out in paragraph 9 of the report.


3. To consult the Board of Project Integra on the possibility of joint working on the waste strategy.

27. DATE, TIME AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING OF THE PANEL

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Panel would be held on Thursday 17 July 2003 at 10.00am at the Civic Offices, Portsmouth.

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