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Agenda item

CROYDON LOCAL PLAN REVIEW

To consider the work done on the Council’s review of the Local Plan 2018 and provide feedback that will be fed into the consultation document.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Regeneration introduced the item and outlined details of the report in a Presentation

Following the Presentation, Members had the opportunity to ask questions.

The Chair reminded the public that there were inks imbedded in the report which could be found in the report which gave detailed background information to the Local Plan.

In response to a question on community involvement and how officers engaged with the public, The Cabinet Member said that the principles of community engagement was important and this was done diligently. There was recognition of the importance of involving the community in all steps of the process, especially as there would be a lot of change for Croydon on the coming months. Officers added that there was strong dialogue in the organisation about the Local Plan which was a corporate expression about the future of the Borough. Engagement took place with partners such as the GLA and NHS to ensure there was understanding of direction for the Borough. There was also engagement with neighbouring Boroughs which was a legal and statutory requirement to ensure they were kept up to date, discuss issues and shared vision. The Council had a strong relationship of working practice with other Local Authorities (LA). In engaging with the community and other developers a wide range of exhibitions took place including the Urban Room which was a mobile room used widely to present the vision for the Borough which was taken across the Borough and was also static in the Whitgift centre. They reached out to youth services, schools and community groups to engage with the Urban Room. It was realised that arriving at spatial option would be difficult and put the challenge back to community groups about planning through a Planning for Real exercise, to convey the balances that had to be taken into consideration in producing a Strategy.

In response to a question on how the gathered feedback from the events would be fed back to residents on how they were used or not used in shaping decision, Officers said that when the paper was presented at Cabinet, they would bring alongside it a consultation statement which would detail the themes gathered and the Councils’ response. The documents would also form part of the submission to the Secretary of State.

A Member asked if the experience of Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) and the learning from that process had helped shape the Local Plan process development. The Cabinet Member said that there was a lot of lessons learnt across the organisation around LTN and community reaction to them. Work on the Local Plan had not been taking place in the last six month and when that started again a lot of learning from different experiences would be applied. Officers added that learning took place all the time from corporate processes and consultations and that the main challenge was with communications. The responses from the next stage of the consultation was for examination by the planning inspectorate and it was important that the Council make that clear to those participating and assist them to make their representation appropriately.

It was asked what was being done to ensure that consultation was being promoted on every scheme and development that was approved in the Borough in order to ensure best practice as prescribed by the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). Officers encouraged Members to contact the relevant planning officers to discuss the statement of community involvement in relation to specific schemes and developments in the Borough and that in terms of the Local Plan, they were very mindful of the SCI. The potential to utilise technology as an engagement tool in a resource sensitive way had its benefits and some of the work done to date drew on use of technology to engage with a wide range of the community but was not the only tool used and can have its limitations . The boundaries on engagement continue to be pushed.

A Member asked if the Loan Plan review, given the Councils’ current circumstances and priorities would be reworked by the new Executive Leadership Team if the financial challenges would impeded the review. The Cabinet Member said that the direction of travel has been clear and would not change in the review despite changes in the Executive Leadership of the Council and this was a politically led authority. The purpose of the review was to refine approaches and learn from previous experiences. The work done to date would not change. The current financial challenge would not impeded as it was a statutory responsibility to produce the Local Plan. Work was paused for a period but would continue in the next financial year (2021/22) and there was a commitment to ensure that work resumed up until submission of papers to the Secretary of State.

In response to a question on what would be a different in terms of the Borough’s journey on emission reduction and net zero and how the Climate Commission and Citizens Assembly approach had informed the Local Plan Review. The Cabinet Member said that the Local Plan encouraged a move to net zero in several ways including transport emissions which was an issue in Croydon. The Plan would encourage developments which would reduce car usage in high PTAL rating areas. It could encourage car clubs to reduce number of cars on Croydon streets. Within developments to encourage planting and greening of space to encourage bio-diversity.

Officers added that the development plan in determining planning application included the London Plan which was part of Croydon’s development plan. The newly adopted London Plan brought in a new emissions policy and net gain bio diversity. The judgement that had to be made was not to repeat the London Plan and if could make more erroneous plans than the London Plan, the case would have to be made on why Croydon was different to go beyond the London Plan policy. The new London Plan was more robust which meant that Croydon would have a greater emphasis around the green grid around the Borough. The work of the Climate Commission would be in evidence and content of the review.

A question was raised on what was being done to encourage developers to take a holistic approach to sustainability and if the polycentric city model was being incorporated into the Local Plan. The Cabinet Member said that there was an opportunity for growth in district centres through the polycentric city model and the local plan review may consider some of the dynamic changes that were occurring. Officers added that the sustainability objective would be given further consideration as to how to bring through in the review.

It was asked how the Local Plan priorities would support and enable recovery of district centres as we emerge from the impact of Covid. Officers said that there were a number of things to consider, how we emerge from the impact of the pandemic, the future of the high street and the impact of permitted development rights. The department was embedded in the Councils’ response to the pandemic in terms of vitality of the high street and had been working with colleagues in regeneration and economic development. Their work also informed the renewal plan in terms of Covid response and this would be reflected in the Plan. The role of shopping frontages were being considered, including control of change of use to get the right balance. The key message from developers and local businesses was flexibility and the challenge for the Council was to offer the flexibility that may be needed in terms of the three considerations described.

A Member questioned where the vision of Croydon was in the Plan as there was an opportunity to reset the vision and this was not reflected very well in the Plan and it was asked what the plans were for the North End of Croydon. The Cabinet Member responded that there was aspiration for the Borough to be the capital of South London as it was well placed to be that. Croydon had good transport links and there was the new gateway in the form of the Brighton Mainline Upgrade. The focus on housing and office space was important and crucial to the functioning economy and community and this had to be very well reflected as set out in the report and presentation. The frustrations around the Whitgift redevelopment was acknowledged and the proposals coming through would be different to originally proposed.

It was asked what the national policy framework implication would be on the housing targets in Croydon. The Cabinet Member said that the reality was if they delivered against housing targets then the target was increased as the targets were not determined by the Council, it was driven by the Government. It was further asked what the distribution of the homes target across the Borough would be and the sub-committee was advised that the majority of homes would be in the town centre, with others spread around small sites across the Borough. All areas had to play their part in the delivery of new homes. 

It was further asked what the process and criteria was for intensification. Officers said that intensification areas identified were areas around the mainline and travel hubs. It was important for new homes to be built close to transport  and social infrastructure to make them accessible. The Plan would evidence that there were more sustainable areas than others for intensification to take place.

It was asked if there was an opportunity to build back better with more green space around sites and  what the deliverability of small sites were as Brick by Brick was now likely to cease developing any new sites on Council land. The Cabinet Member said that they would have to test viability of the small sites and with discussion with developers if they would like to develop or not. Small sites could come forward from Council or private land and would have to be assessed to establish if schemes were viable. There would be a five year review and any changes would be dealt with in the next London and Local Plan.

It was asked how Croydon compared with other LA’ in particular in terms of social infrastructure. Officers said that there would be a continued retention of communities’ facilities policy which protects community facilities in their current use but also provided opportunities for other community organisations to take the premises over should they come under consideration for take over. Officers were confident in the partnership with the NHS and pupil place forecasting and this process went alongside this Local Plan review 

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their engagement with the sub-committee

In reaching its recommendations, the Sub-Committee came to the following conclusions

  1. There had been a number of lessons learnt from the LTN process, consultation and implementation which would be beneficial for consideration in other strategy and review consultations conducted and should be utilised by the Council.
  2. It was important that officers explore the work that had been completed by other local authorities on sustainability in order to gain some learning in this area.
  3. There was a need for improvement on participation and engagement, in particular in respect of changes as a result of the Pandemic.
  4. The Sub-Committee took on board officer’s point not to push for too many changes that could be open to future challenge.
  5. A case was needed to be made for a stronger fund to support district centres, post Covid recovery.
  6. There were engagement opportunities on driving the city urban approach that should not be missed.

 

The Sub-Committee recommended that

  1. Vital Learning from the Low Traffic Neighbourhood process be taken forward in the next stage of the Local Plan consultation.
  2. Officers explore how to evidence sustainability as part of consideration of the review and adopt this in the draft plan.
  3. Officers provide a briefing on how the sustainability objectives will be met prior to approval of the final plan at Cabinet.
  4. Officers to demonstrate in the draft Local Plan how the polycentric city links back to the infrastructure plan.

 

Supporting documents: