Agenda and minutes

Apologies were reported on behalf of Alderman McGimpsey and Councillors Armitage, Carson, Hutchinson and Nicholl.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Information contained in the following report is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 17th April, it had agreed to defer consideration of the report so that Members could review the LDP Draft Strategy further and requested that a special meeting be scheduled in May to discuss the matter.

            The Committee was also reminded that, at its special meeting on 17th May, it had agreed that Members’ comments or amendments in relation to the Local Development Plan Draft Strategy document be submitted to the Planning Department for consideration and any further revisions to the document would be published for review at another Special Meeting on 6th June.

            The Development Planning and Policy Manager provided an overview of the Local Development Plan Draft Strategy and explained that, following feedback from Members, Appendix 1 outlined the proposed changes to the previously circulated Local Development Plan (LDP) Draft Strategy document.  He advised that, if agreed, the proposed changes would be included within a final document to be presented to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 22ndJune.

            The Principal Planning Officer presented the main issues which had been raised since the last workshop and highlighted the following main changes to the document:

·        Pages 5-7 (up to p.43 of draft Plan Strategy(dPS)) – Minor text changes to Volume 1 to reflect Belfast Agenda and comments relating to draft policies;

·        Pages 7-24 – Changes proposed to the Shaping a liveable place section, including:

§  HOU3 (p.76 of dPS) – Clarification re: protection of existing residential stock;

§  HOU5 (p.81-84 of dPS) – Reworked policy on affordable housing;

§  HOU10 (p.94 of dPS) – Change to HMO policies in response to concerns re implementation;

§  DES3 (p.111 of dPS) - Tall Buildings threshold increased to 35m following new evidence;

§  RD3 (p.121) – Criteria introduced to limit sub-divisions to properties over 150m (linked to HOU10 changes – see above)

§  Section 7.6 – Changes to reflect comments on equality, community cohesion and good relations; and

§  Section 8.1 – Minor changes to section to reflect aspirations for ‘inclusive’ economic growth.

            During discussion, Members raised concerns in relation to the Policy HOU5 and the minimum affordable housing provision of 20% regarding the criteria to achieve this and the effect it might have on communities and developers.

            The Principal Planning Officer explained that additional detail of how Policy HOU5 would be assessed and implemented would be provided in the Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). He advised that a list of all of the SPGs were outlined in the original Local Development Plan (LDP) Draft Strategy as Appendix E (page 321, copy available here).  He clarified that affordable housing would be secured by way of section 76 planning agreements, which should be in place in advance of planning permission being granted and the policy ensures that applicants cannot artificially divide or phase sites to avoid affordable housing obligations.

Proposal

            Moved by Councillor Hussey, and

            Seconded by Councillor Johnston,

      That the Committee, in relation to the proposed changes to Policy HOU5 –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.