Agenda and minutes

Information on public speaking is available online

There were no members of the public registered to speak.

1.     Minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2022

2.     Minutes of the meeting held on 9 June 2022 – referred back to the Committee from the  full Council meeting 20 July 2022 [minute 22 (e)] as follows:

Following a vote the Chair confirmed that the above minutes [9 June 2022 minute 7, car parking petitions] would be referred back to the next Scrutiny Committee meeting for further consideration.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 7^th July 2022 were accepted as a true record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 June 2022 had been referred back to the Committee for further consideration from the full Council meeting of 20 July 2022.

The Committee agreed the following amendment to minute 7, Car Parking Petitions, of the minutes of the meeting held on 9 June 2022:

The Committee noted that a written statement had been submitted in advance of the meeting by a member of the public, Mr Richard Eley, by email to Scrutiny Committee members; while the Chair asked that the statement be set out in full in the meeting minutes it was highlighted that the statement has not been seen by the Monitoring Officer, nor discussed by the Committee, and may contain claims that are incorrect.

The minutes of the Scrutiny Committee of 9 June 2022 have therefore been amended to include this wording.

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

There were no confidential / exempt items.

There are no items identified

There were no decisions made by Cabinet called in for scrutiny.

A report by the Service Lead Planning Strategy and Development Management set out the position in terms of the planning system and consideration of water management issues.  It referred to Government policy and guidance and the role of the Council as Local Planning Authority in delivering the Government’s objectives as well as the role of South West Water.  The report also referred to the work that has been commissioned on a water cycle study to inform production of the new Local Plan as well as the work that consultants working on considering options for a new community are undertaking to understand impacts of such a development on infrastructure.

In response to questions and concerns raised, the following points were made:

·        Regarding the Cranbrook Plan, much of the proposed development is taking forward development agreed in the current Local Plan.  The exception is 2 of the expansion areas, on which South West Water and the Environment Agency have been consulted.  The Planning Inspector’s letter can be taken as confirmation that the issues of waste water and water supply have been satisfactorily addressed.

·        There is a need to mitigate against problems which are already occurring downstream from Cranbrook, as well as issues which may arise in future.

·        Concern was raised regarding phosphate levels in the River Axe and the ongoing implications of this for development and where responsibility for mitigation lies. 

·        The responsibility of the developer is now to ensure that the impacts of development are mitigated and that mitigation is proportionate to the impacts.

·        There is a need for the Local Planning Authority to work together with other authorities to plan for the future.

Following the announcement of the sad passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, the meeting was adjourned to a later date as a mark of deepest respect.