Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Councillor Greer welcomed all the attendees to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllr Smith who was substituted by Cllr Rawlings.

Apologies were received from Cllr Anyanwu and Cllr Tim Leaver.

There was no declarations of interest.

Cllr Rawlings left the meeting as she had not been present at the previous meeting and therefore could not comment on the minutes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd February 2022 were agreed as complete an accurate.

The amendments of the minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2022 submitted by Cllr Gunawardena were not agreed by all members, the Chair Cllr Greer proposed a vote to agree the original minutes as complete and accurate.

Cllr Greer and Aksanoglu voted for. Cllrs Milne and Gunawardena voted against. The Chair, Cllr Greer made the casting vote to agree the minutes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2022 were agreed.

To receive an overview update on the local plan and a number of key strategic planning matters.

Vincent Lacovara, Head of Planning, presented this item and highlighted the following points on a planning update and local plan.

The Environment Act 2021 requires new schemes within planning to include improvements to biodiversity with 10% net gain. The local authority has an obligation to have a local nature recovery strategy with specific topics. Conservation covenants will require us to conserve the natural or heritage features of the land.

The national planning policy has had no substantial changes.

The Built Environment Committee report highlights issues around uncertainty on government reforms including the need to have up-to-date and simplified Local Plans, the skills crisis which we experience at Enfield and the need to increase resources.

The Housing Delivery test monitors the number of homes delivered and how it compares to the target has been run over the last few years. This includes housing provided by local authority and the private sector. Results over last 3 years show we are overall failing. This will be improved with an up-to-date Local Plan.

Planning application performance measures the length of time to make a decision from the time an application is submitted, which we are doing very well on. As part of member training, we are working to improve the quality measure which relates to the number of applications lost at appeal.

Government requires us to produce a yearly statement showing money made from CIL and S106 and how this was spent. As a consequence of covid19 the amount collected in 20/21 is substantially lower.

C7000 responses were received from the consultation held in the summer of 2021, a consultation statement will be produced once the responses have been logged, acknowledged, redacted, and analysed. The Local Development Scheme programme currently remains unchanged but is subject to further consideration.

Questions and comments:

The Chair confirmed that questions submitted prior to the meeting by Cllr Gunawardena have been sent in MEQ and will be responded to via this system. However Cllr Gunawardena was invited to ask questions if he wished.

Cllr Aksanoglu asked is the local authority prepared for the changes within the Environment Act 2021. Officers advised that we are ready for some parts but don’t have all skills necessary in house so will be calling on consultants.

Cllr Rawlings requested clarity on how the 10% net gain of biodiversity is measured. Officers explained it is based on an assessment of what is on site before development takes place and the proposals would need to set out how it would be enhanced. 

Cllr Gunawardena asked if officers had considered a 15-year local plan instead of 20 and officers confirmed as part of proposals they have considered early reviews.

Following queries from Cllr Rawlings, officers confirmed that converted houses and flats are included in the housing delivery test and targets were reduced due to the impact of covid.

Cllr Gunawardena had questions around growth in population and the government plans being linked to the London plan. Officers explained the housing delivery is measured against the London  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.