To debate any of the recommendations from the Executive Mayor to Council for decision.
Minutes:
The Mayor introduced the item and invited Councillor Clark to address the Council in regards to the Croydon Suburban Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document (SPD2).
Councillor Clark informed the Council that at the annual Council meeting, Councillor King had made it clear that the opposition would work with the administration to ensure that SPD2 was replaced with new local design guidance that attracted the support of residents across the borough.
Councillor Clark stated that there were concerns from the Scrutiny Streets, Environments and Homes Sub Committee about the withdrawal of SPD2 without replacement design guidance being put in place.
Councillor Clark also asked Members to consider the equality analysis report, which flagged the risk of the slowing down of the time that the council had to consider Planning applications and with less guidance for applications it may be difficult to determine whether an application was acceptable and for applicants to know what would be deemed as acceptable. Councillor Clark went on to explain that this may result in more applications being taken to appeal which would further delay outcomes.
Councillor Clark noted that appeals could prove costly for the Council and that it was important to avoid using taxpayer money to cover legal expenses and that the risk of delays in processing applications effectively may affect housing delivery which would impact the availability of affordable and specialist housing.
The Mayor invited Councillor Sutton to address the Council.
Councillor Sutton stated that there would need to be a process in place to mitigate and ensure that groups of people with protected characteristics were not negatively impacted by delays to access to affordable or specialist housing because of the revocation of SPD2.
Councillor Sutton explained that she would welcome an appropriate design led approach working with communities to have sustainable planning to meet housing targets across the borough. Councillor Sutton was also concerned that the revocation of SPD2 would lead to overcrowding and over intensification in areas that were already congested with development. However, Councillor Sutton did accept that the revocation of SPD2 would mitigate the number of planned developments that would impact green spaces.
The Executive Mayor welcomed the commitment of colleagues who supported the proposal to revoke SPD2. The Executive Mayor stated that the council was delivering more than their current housing target and that that there would be a full consultation regarding the replacement supplementary planning document and any issues raised would be taken into account.
The Executive Mayor proposed the motion to revoke SPD2.
The motion was taken to a vote and carried with all Members voting in favour.
RESOLVED, to:
1.1
Consider the report at Appendix A and agree the revocation of the
Croydon Suburban Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document
(SPD2) (set out in Appendix 1 of the report at Appendix A) in
accordance with Regulation 15 (2) and (3) of The Town and Country
Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.
1.2 Note the decision of the Executive Mayor to produce the residential extensions and alterations chapter of the Croydon suburban design guide supplementary planning document (SPD2) as a supplementary planning document and report this to Council for adoption after consultation.