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Agenda item

Development Services Review Action Plan

To consider the progress made against the Development Services Review Action Plan. 

Minutes:

108.1        The report of the Head of Development Services, circulated at Pages No. 105-138, gave an update on progress against the Development Services Action Plan that had been approved by Council in April 2018.  Members were asked to consider the report.

108.2         Members were reminded that, whilst planning and development management were significant elements, the action plan covered all of the service areas within the remit of the Head of Development Services. It was a strategic document and was a tool to help manage service improvements. With regard to development management, the Head of Development Services indicated that the Key Performance Indicators had previously been presented to the Committee and would be reported back as part of the performance management report; Planning Performance Agreements had been implemented for two planning applications with discussions ongoing in relation to a number of potential others; and re-validation checklists had been published to improve the opportunity for customers to self-serve.  In terms of planning policy, the focus had been on responding to the issues and options stage of the review of the Joint Core Strategy and the preferred options stage of the Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan and they would continue to be a focus for the foreseeable future.  Work had also commenced on the development of the Statement of Community Involvement which was hugely important.  With respect to economic development, the integration of the Growth Hub as a service within the Council was progressing and surgeries and briefing sessions had allowed better communication between services.  Community development was critically important in terms of the place approach and a Member workshop had been held to clarify and define its role.

108.3        A Member noted that concerns had previously been expressed about planning application recommendations being contrary to pre-application advice and she questioned what had been done to address that.  The Head of Development Services explained that this could happen for a number of reasons, not least changes in planning policy – this was significant in terms of the Joint Core Strategy and the five year housing land supply.  Officers always tried to be open and transparent with developers and householders and positive conversations at the pre-application stage would not be over-ruled by a Senior Officer without good reason.  Regular meetings with the teams and the Officers responsible for signing-off decision notices had helped with this.  A Member drew attention to Page No. 123, Action B.13 ii) which related to creating and publicising Section 106 templates and standard clauses and indicated that the target date had changed from July 2018 to March 2020.  He raised concern that people were not aware that Section 106 money was available and made particular reference to a football club in Churchdown which needed new pitches and a cricket club in Down Hatherley that required a changing room, both of which may benefit from such funding.  The Head of Development Services advised that the Executive Committee had approved a new process for administering Section 106 spending in July 2018 and, under that process, where the money was not to be provided to the Parish for provision of community facilities, it would be advertised on the Council’s website and bids invited.  In many cases, the Council had already received notification of community groups looking for funding.  The bids were considered by a Panel which comprised the Lead Members for Community, Finance and Asset Management and Health and Wellbeing as well as herself and Officers from One Legal and Community Services.  The Member questioned whether Ward Members could be informed when Section 106 money was available within their Wards and the Head of Development Services undertook to provide updates before the money was allocated.  Another Member queried what the process was for payment of Section 106 monies as he was aware of a delay in one particular Parish and the Head of Development Services advised that she would look into this outside of the meeting.  The Chair asked for the Executive Committee report and Minutes to be circulated to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to help Members understand exactly what had been approved.

108.4         A Member drew attention to Page No. 137, Action H.1 – Discuss tourism role with Members and partners - and indicated that this was quite concerning.  The Head of Development Services reassured Members that tourism was very important to the authority and, whilst there was uncertainty in relation to funding and the models of governance in tourism services nationally, it was more about establishing what opportunities there were for additional funding and ensuring that the Council was best placed to maximise those opportunities.  It was noted that Officers worked with various destination management organisations, such as Cotswold Tourism, in order to promote Tewkesbury Borough as a tourist destination.  A Member made reference to the recent archaeological findings at a site in Innsworth and indicated that, should they prove to be historically important, he would be keen to ensure this was promoted as a tourist attraction.  The Head of Development Services confirmed that once the archaeological findings had been unearthed and recorded, consideration could be given as to how they could best be promoted.  Another Member questioned how the Growth Hub would be assessed in terms of value for money and was informed that it had its own targets in relation to footfall and number of businesses assisted.  The Member felt it would be beneficial to include these in the report going forward.

108.5         A brief discussion ensued in relation to the successful garden village bid at Ashchurch and the need to deliver high quality development.  The Head of Development Services indicated that the garden village would bring huge opportunities but also significant challenges and it would be important to ensure that the right resources were available to deliver an appropriate scheme for Tewkesbury.  The Joint Core Strategy and Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan set out the policies to give the Council ‘teeth’ to ensure that development within the borough was of a high standard, and this would be particularly relevant in terms of the garden village.  Whilst Officers were aware of issues with sub-standard housebuilders, she was confident that appropriate safeguards were in place in terms of planning policy and building control.

108.6         A Member noted that a lot of the actions within the plan had been ticked, suggesting that vast improvements had been made within the department, and he queried how the Committee could be assured that was the case.  The Head of Development Services explained that a lot of the actions related to structural and procedural changes which had been delivered; notwithstanding this, she provided assurance that nobody was resting on their laurels and Officers were always looking for opportunities to make further improvements.  In response to a query as to whether she felt that the changes had made a difference, she indicated that she could see a positive impact in the day-to-day running of the service, but it was ultimately for users of the services to judge whether they had seen an improvement.  The Deputy Chief Executive expressed the view that the Head of Development Services and her team had worked very hard to implement changes and, in his view, this was starting to pay dividends.

108.7         It was

RESOLVED          That the progress made against the Development Services Review Action Plan be NOTED.

Supporting documents: