Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Helen Murch (Head of Strategic Planning and Design) on local plan policies including housing types.  

The forum received a presentation on the work being done to draw up a vision for the Local Plan. 

1.            Presentation

Ed Jones, Principal Planner in the Plan Making Team, highlighted the following from his presentation: 

·         The vision for the Local Plan was a succinct framing statement, supported by several strategic objectives and underpinned by four guiding principles. 

·         It had been put together following a series of engagement workshops including with the youth parliament held in February.

·         A survey was also carried out to capture a wider range of views. 

·         Wider Council strategies were also taken into account. 

·         Members told the team that Enfield offered the best of town and country and needed to remain a place of green attractive neighbourhoods with a good quality of life.  Growth should be focused on quality and be supported by infrastructure.

·         The Youth Parliament felt that Enfield should be a place of future opportunity where east/west disparities could be addressed, a green place with access to nature.

·         There were 278 responses to the survey; 65% of these were from white British and over the age of 50.  This was not representative as only 31% of Enfield residents are over 50 and 35% estimated to be white British. 

·         In the survey 72% supported the view of a deeply green Londoner and 63% a family retreat.  There was least support (12%) for a self-sufficient borough. 

·         Sustainable movement was a clear priority.

·         Sixty six percent wanted Enfield to meet all the housing needs.  More people than not wanted to meet the Mayor of London’s housing target. 

·         Environmental aspirations were strong.  Sixty six percent thought that Enfield should be an intergenerational place.

·         Sixty one percent thought that built heritage should be prioritised with 49% supporting a mix of suburbs, town centres and regeneration areas.  There was least support for tall buildings. 

·         The most popular choice in setting a spatial vision was for improved biodiversity and networks of green spaces to improve health and wellbeing.

·         The least popular choices were for providing housing even if it meant building tall buildings, providing industrial and logistics needs if it meant building on countryside areas and intensifying our town centres. 

·         There was support for meeting needs in principle but not necessarily for the spatial consequences of meeting the needs. 

·         There were only 15 responses from the under 30s and only twelve from councillors. 

·         The emerging vision was that by 2039 Enfield will have grown to be a place of opportunity for future generations, the green heart of London where new homes and jobs will help our communities thrive. 

·         The draft vision would be made up of four threads: a deeply green place; the workshop of London; a distinct and leading part of London; and a nurturing place. 

2.            Questions/Comments

2.1       Concern that not many of the members had completed the survey and that this was perhaps because it was not easy to provide answers to the questions posed.  It was felt that there should be more space to provide a commentary, not just a yes/no response.  This comment would be taken into account in developing future surveys. 

2.2       This was the early stage in the development of the plan and there would be lots more opportunities for comment. 

2.3       There were tough choices to be made and that was why the questionnaire had been framed in this way.  Using land for one purpose would mean it could not be used for another. 

2.4       The local plan consultation had been reset due to the many contextual changes which had recently come in, including changes to the planning regulations and growing awareness of the need to take account of the climate change agenda.  Earlier responses would also be included in the final analysis. 

2.5       A new plan had to be put in place as the old plan was close to expiry.  Timescales were laid down by the Government and were tight.

2.6       The officers were continually having to take on board changes in the process.  However, the development of the plan was at an early stage and there would be room to take on a wider range of views in the future. 

2.7       In practice the responses from this stage would feed into the draft plan which would be put out for consultation following approval at Council in June.  There would be a formal consultation period in the Summer seeking views on the proposed approach, options and policies.  Following a review of the consultations received, there would be a redraft and another stage of consultation.  There were plenty of opportunities for further engagement before the fully worked up plan was created.  Papers for the draft plan would be publicly available from 1 June 2021 with the council agenda.

2.8       It was emphasised that there needed to be greater efforts to engage with all sections of the borough’s community.

2.9       It was hoped that by June/July there would be greater opportunities for face to face engagement, as lock down restrictions were lifted.  Online engagement would also continue. 

2.10    All the evidence collected so far will be published with the other papers with the agenda for the Council meeting on the 9 June 2021. 

2.11    The new plan would be flexible and responsive. The situation was changing all the time particularly as a result of the recent pandemic.   For example it was not clear whether people would go back to working in offices or whether other closer to home workspaces would be needed. 

3.            Summing Up by the Chair

The Chair thanked officers for the presentation and responses to questions. There was a lot to think about.  The Local Plan was an important legislative framework which was changing dramatically.  The process was continuing and there would be lots more opportunities for comment.