Agenda item

The Committee was provided with the Annual Monitoring Report which was to be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31^st December 2011.  In addition, the report provided an update on future monitoring and Minerals and Waste planning in Slough.

The Head of Planning, Policy and Projects summarised the key points of the report.  In particular, it was noted that the level of house building in Slough remained low, with 249 dwellings completed in 2010/11 compared to 275 comparable dwellings in 2009/10.  It was outlined that this was due to the impact of the downturn in the economy and that general decline in house building activity rather than a lack in supply of sites.  Members were informed that the housing trajectory showed that Slough still had a five, ten and fifteen year supply of housing land and, due to the high number of completions since 2006, the Authority would meet its target of  6,300 new homes before 2026.

It was also bought to Members’ attention that until recently, minerals and waste planning had been carried out by the Joint Strategic Planning Unit (JSPU) on behalf of the six Berkshire unitary authorities.  However, the JSPU had been closed as a budget saving measure, and responsibility for minerals and waste planning had passed to the individual unitary authorities.  As a result, it was proposed to incorporate the minerals and waste planning within the annual monitoring reports.

Members were advised that the Localism Act 2011 included a statutory duty for local authorities to prepare reports and publish them to the local community.  The Annual Monitoring Report would no longer be required to be submitted to the Secretary of State in December of each year.  It was proposed that the Council would publish an annual monitoring report in September, which would provide more up to date information.

In the ensuing discussion, a number of Members raised concern with regard to the obligations imposed upon developers via Section 106 Agreements when building four bedroom houses.  Officers advised that the issue was currently being investigated.

The Committee agreed that the format of future annual monitoring reports report would be discussed at a future meeting.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report 2010/2011 be approved for submission to the Secretary of State by 31^st December 2011 and subsequently published.

(b)  That, potential reporting options to produce and publish future monitoring reports be presented at a future Planning Committee.

(c)  That the future arrangements for Minerals and Waste planning in Slough be noted.