To agree the Council’s consultation response to the Cheltenham Plan Part 1: Issues and Options Consultation.

That the Council’s response to the Cheltenham Plan Part 1: Issues and Options Consultation, as set out at Appendix 5 to the report, be AGREED subject to the inclusion of a sentence to state that ‘Tewkesbury Borough Council will object to any proposal which will undermine the integrity of the Joint Core Strategy’.

20.1           The report of the Development Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 100-166, attached, for Members information, the Cheltenham Borough Plan Part 1 – Issues and Options consultation document and asked the Committee to agree the Council’s response to the document.

20.2           The Development Services Group Manager explained that that the Cheltenham Borough Plan provided the District-level planning framework that sat underneath the strategic-level Joint Core Strategy. Together the two Plans provided the Development Plan for Cheltenham Borough up to 2031, along with the Gloucestershire Minerals and Waste Plans and any Neighbourhood Plans. Cheltenham Borough Council was now consulting on its draft Plan and that consultation period was ongoing until 3 August 2015. It was important that Tewkesbury Borough Council provided representations on the Cheltenham Plan due to the collaborative working on the higher-level Joint Core Strategy and the cross-boundary issues that were present. It was also important that the Cheltenham Plan sufficiently provided the appropriate sites and policies to deliver the growth identified in the Joint Core Strategy and in line with the spatial strategy it set out.

20.3           Members were advised that the key points to consider were local green space, housing allocations and employment allocations. In terms of local green space there were cross boundary issues as some of the areas were within the emerging strategic allocations. In recognition of the potential conflicts, the Joint Core Strategy inspector would be considering the local green space submissions as part of the examination. In addition, no indication was provided within the document as to whether there were an adequate number of suitable, achievable and deliverable sites to meet the development needs as set out in the Joint Core Strategy and it was also noted that none of the sites being consulted upon that were in the Green Belt or the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty were considered to be suitable development which could present a problem when looking for sufficient sites to meet the need identified for development. The consultation document did not make it clear how the Council would find the residual number and it was felt that this needed to be questioned. It was also unclear how it would address the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople allocation and whether there were adequate sites to meet development needs. Appendix 5 set out Tewkesbury Borough Council’s proposed response to the consultation document.

20.4           A number of Members questioned whether the response was robust enough, particularly in terms of the whole concept of local green space. The Development Services Group Manager felt that the response was appropriate at the current stage of the process. Cheltenham Borough Council would be looking at all of the responses received and would take them forward to the next stage of the process. She felt that Members should take reassurance from the fact that the Joint Core Strategy inspector had already expressed an interest in the deliverability of the strategic sites and that Tewkesbury Borough Council would object to anything that undermined the Joint Core Strategy. The Deputy Chief Executive agreed that the response was adequate to make clear Tewkesbury Borough Council’s concerns at this stage and provided a clear message to Cheltenham Borough Council about what would and would not be acceptable. A Member indicated that, whilst he accepted the document was still one for consultation, he felt there may be a need to add a phrase at the end of the Council’s response to state that the document was not currently acceptable to Tewkesbury Borough Council.

20.5           There was some concern expressed about the current progress of the Joint Core Strategy examination and Officers indicated that they understood the issues raised and would be discussing what might be done to address this; although Members did need to bear in mind that much of the examination process was out of the control of the Councils involved.

20.6           Having considered the information provided, it was proposed and seconded that additional wording be added to the Council’s response to indicate that it would object to any proposal which would undermine the integrity of the Joint Core Strategy and, accordingly, it was