Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Law and Governance detailing a petition received about: We voted for you. Please speak up for us. #Debate Enfield's Local Plan.

The Lead Petitioner, Carol Fisk spoke for five minutes in support of the petition on Councillors: We voted for you. Please speak up for us. #Debate Enfield's Local Plan. The Petitioner raised the following points:

·         To bring the revised Local Plan to a Full Council meeting, as promised by a majority vote of councillors at an Extraordinary Council Meeting held on 9 June 2021.

·         To allow sufficient time for councillors to debate the merits of the Local Plan for the first, and only, time at Full Council before it was submitted to the National Planning Inspectorate for consultation as part of the Regulation 19 process.

·         To ensure that each councillor had the chance to vote either for or against the plan and, in the interest of transparency and public accountability, subject this vote to a “Roll Call” so that there is a public record of how each councillor voted.

·         The revised Local Plan be published, in a fully accessible form for residents (length, format, physical copies) at least 12 weeks before the date of the proposed Full Council meeting to enable councillors, especially those who were new, to properly consider the contents of the plan and to engage their constituents in a meaningful and productive consultation about their aspirations, their homes and their environment before the debate at Full Council at which councillors could decide whether to submit the plan to the National Inspectorate and proceed to a formal public consultation.

Councillor Caliskan, Leader of the Council, thanked the Lead Petitioner for presenting the Petition on behalf of the other residents of Enfield.

Councillor Caliskan noted that the development of a sound local plan was a very important statutory requirement which impacted on generations to come and the Borough. The publication of a Local Plan was a long and complicated process, both technically difficult for officers and always politically sensitive. Should the Council not allocate adequate amounts of land there would be consequences for borough from the National Planning Inspector.

The interest shown in the development of a Local Plan from the borough’s community groups, civic societies, and our residents was very much welcomed as was the Petition, which included some very constructive and helpful suggestions.

The Leader stated that she was very happy for the administration to vote to agree the demands in the Petition. In terms of bringing the Local Plan to the Full Council for debate, that was something the Administration had already stated as its intention and was also a statutory responsibility.

The next stage would be for the Council to publish the regulation 19 followed by a 12-week consultation period and the Plan would then be tabled at the Full Council meeting, followed by submission to the National Planning Inspector. If required at that Full Council meeting, there would be an extension of time to allow members to speak.

The Leader moved that the revised Local Plan be published and consulted on in accordance with the intention as previously set out by the Administration and in line with the Council’s statutory obligations and in accordance with community consultation good practice

Members from both sides of the Chamber expressed support for the Petition and agreed that the proposals set out in the Plan should receive considered democratic scrutiny.

Members acknowledged the strong support for the Petition which was an overwhelming show of public opinion from across the borough of Enfield and showed a real strength of feeling.

At the end of the debate, it was unanimously AGREED that the action the Petition requested be taken.