Agenda item

Councillor Gary Sumner (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning), was in attendance and presented to the Committee a report summarising progress and performance in respect of each of the following service areas within his portfolio of responsibility:

·        Strategic Spatial Planning and Development Framework Planning

·        The New Eastern Villages

·        Wichelstowe, Tadpole Garden Village and Badbury Park

·        Neighbourhood Planning

In overseeing these areas, the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning is responsible for delivering the following Priorities and Pledges of Swindon’s vision for 2016-2020:

Pledge 6:

·        Deliver infrastructure in a timely way to assist in phased housing and employment delivery for the New Eastern Villages including White Hart Junction and A420   Working with Barratt Homes through the Joint Venture, we will deliver the District Centre facilities including a public house, the next phases of housing, a retirement complex and education facilities – whilst also delivering new sections of canal

·        Create the southern access to Wichelstowe via a tunnel to be constructed under the M4 to link to Junction 16

·        Through the Local Plan review, identify brown field and green field sites for housing to deliver homes and employment land on a range of sustainable sites whilst ensuring that urban extensions are of the highest quality

·        Continue to work with the developers at Tadpole Garden Village to bring forward facilities to ensure a sustainable community can continue to thrive

·        Ensure that there is a range of good quality housing options in Swindon, including affordable opportunities to buy and rent

·        Work with Nationwide Building Society to deliver homes at the former Oakfield campus

·        Support final phases of additional housing at Badbury Park with community space and improvements to Day House Lane to link to Coate Water

Pledge 7: 

·        In addition to the two new free secondary schools, build one secondary and 13 primary schools to meet the needs of our increasing population

Pledge 15:

·        Work to secure a viable and sustainable future for our key heritage assets. 

Councillor Sumner responded to questions and issues raised by the Chair along with Councillors Steve Allsopp, Matthew Courtliff, Emma Faramarzi, Jim Grant, Brian Mattock, and Jim Robbins on the following matters:

·        In light of the approach by Cornwall Council, should sustainability and responding to climate change be part of the portfolio?

·        How the Honda site might prove an asset for businesses in or seeking to move to Swindon.

·        How many sites would the local plan need to secure to evince planning inspectors that there was a five-year land supply and how far was the Council from achieving this, thereby regaining more local control over developments?

·        How social media channels could be used to encourage response to the Local Plan review consultation?

·        How would an Article Four Direction protect high quality office stock from conversion to flats and which areas would be covered by it?

·        To confirm that the infrastructure costs for the New Eastern Villages would be covered by government grant or developers’ contributions.

·        The number of new houses at Wichelstowe sold.

·        The number of self-build plots developed or being developed – the Head of Planning, Regulatory Services and Heritage undertook to provide a written response.

·        How was the Council working with the Environment Agency on both on on-going flood prevention, inspections, and maintenance as well as strategic policies to protect residents?

·        What steps were being taken with other relevant portfolio holders to address the wider issues is the Heritage Action Zones.

·        How the complex patterns of land ownership and options might affect the pace and scale of development in the New Eastern Villages.

·        The ability to use recent successes in securing 30% affordable housing for future new developments

·        How to address providing electrical vehicle charging points for the existing housing stock that lacks them.

·        The new policy to allow people, for a fee, to name houses and streets, as set out in paragraph 3.33 of the Cabinet Member’s report (page 23 of the agenda pack) along with the outstanding response to a Council resolution to recognise 2016 Olympic medal winner Jazz Carlin (Council Minute 49, 2016/17 refers).

·        How the Council would approach planting more trees to offset the carbon impact of new developments – to which officers undertook to provide a written reply.

·        How accurately were the figures reflecting demand for services if callers were not able to speak to a member of staff in a timely manner?

·        How was the Local Plan addressing the need to increase the number of green, open spaces in the town centre?

·        How was the Local Plan addressing the infrastructure routes connecting Swindon to the rest of the country given that the town’s location was a key point to its future economic success?

Resolved: – (1) That Councillor Sumner be thanked for attending the meeting to present his performance report and for his full and open responses to members’ questions and observations on the issues raised.

(2) That information requested by members during the course of the Committee’s consideration of this item be forwarded to them via the Committee Clerk.