Agenda item

To consider motions proposed by Councillors Coole, Ecclestone and C Dowden.

Council considered the following motion moved by Councillor Coole and seconded by Councillor P North:

‘That following the adoption of the Andover Masterplan, Test Valley Borough Council ask the Andover Vision Stakeholders Group to lead on two pieces of public engagement. Namely;

1.  Improvements to Andover Town Centre street furniture.

2.  Improvements to Vigo Recreation Ground.’

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Council considered the following motion moved by Councillor Coole and seconded by Councillor Ecclestone:

‘That Shepherds Spring Lane car park charges mirror those of Romsey Rapids car park, so that both offer four hours free car parking.

(Current charges permit two hours free parking in Shepherds Spring Lane and four hours free parking in Romsey Rapids, yet both are a comparable walking distance from their Town Centre feature buildings (Andover Guildhall and Romsey Town Hall).  Approval of this Motion would provide four hours free parking in both car parks and provide car parking charges parity across the Borough.)’

Upon being put to the vote the motion was lost.

Council considered the following motion moved by Councillor C Dowden and seconded by Councillor P North:

This Council notes:

‘The publication by Government of the White Paper, ‘Planning for the Future’ on 6 August 2020, which set out proposals on reforms to the planning process for the future.

·  That in Test Valley 95% of planning applications have been given the go-ahead by the authority's planning committees, where the recommendation from officers has been to grant permission.

·  That research by the Local Government Association has said that there are existing planning permissions for more than one million homes that have not yet been started.

·  That in the last year Test Valley Borough Council has substantially exceeded its housing target, building 948 new homes of which 315 were designated as 'affordable homes’.

This Council is concerned that the proposals seek to:

1.  Reduce or remove the right of residents to object to applications near them.

2.  Grant automatic rights for developers to build on land identified as ‘for growth’.

3.  Remove section 106/CIL payments for infrastructure and their replacement with a national levy.

4.  Potentially remove control over development on land identified as ‘renewal’ from the local authority in favour of national guidance

This Council Further Notes:

1.  The reforms are opposed by the all-party Local Government Association.

This Council Believes:

1.  That existing planning procedures, as evidenced by the outcomes reported by the Test Valley Borough Council planning committees and TVBC’s housing completions, allow for local democratic control over future development, and give local people a say in planning proposals that affect them, without hindering development of the homes the Borough needs.

2.  That proposals for automatic rights to build in ‘growth’ areas, and increased permitted development rights, risk unregulated growth and unsustainable communities.

3.  That any future standard methodology used to establish the Council’s housing requirement figures should be calculated in a way that does not disadvantage the Borough because of its success in housing delivery.

4.  In order to secure the homes that our communities need there should be a focus on the development industry bringing forward sites which have planning permission already.  Local authorities should be given powers to require developers to bring forward development on sites such as the Romsey Brewery Site and Harewood Farm in Andover.’

Councillor C Dowden moved an alteration to the start of the motion that ‘The Council notes and resolves to write to relevant Government Minister(s) expressing its view as set out below;’. The meetings agreement was signalled without discussion.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.