Agenda and minutes

Information on public speaking is available online

Councillor Kelvin Dent, Chair of Planning, Sidmouth Town Council, spoke on behalf of Sidmouth Town Council who expressed disappointment that the three sites for allocation in Sidmouth were recommended for allocation.  The site they were most unhappy about was Sidm_06 on the western side of Two Bridges, Sidford for the proposal of 268 new houses and asked that the assessment for this site be reconsidered.  He highlighted the land was protected under Policy 3 of the Sid Valley Neighbourhood Plan and that a lot of time and money and public involvement had been spent preparing the Neighbourhood Plan and a desire to prevent the coalescence of Sidford and Sidbury was one of the key messages.  Councillor Dent also advised that as well as objecting to the proposed allocations Sidmouth Town Council Members were not happy with Central Government ridiculous housing targets which have been imposed and felt that East Devon had done more than its share in the past and there was a lack of infrastructure to support further growth and in Sidmouth’s case, a sewerage system which can cope with the existing population.  Sidmouth Town Council resolved last night to invite representatives of the six towns, Devon County Council, EDDC and our local MPs to tell the Government that ‘enough was already more than enough’ and Councillor Dent hoped that the Strategic Planning Committee would support that initiative.

Martyn Cross addressed the Committee on the enormous task of meeting a Central Government imposed target for housing in the area made difficult by the fact that many of the proposed developments are sited in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the additional complexity of environmental and cultural heritage issues.  He suggested given the invidious position the Committee have been put in and the enormity of the task, would it not be a sensible approach to focus the Committee’s time and resources on the developments where net big wins are possible and let smaller developments proceed through planning permissions channels.  Sidm_017 for 11 new dwellings was given as an example.  When in reality this could only be achieved by demolishing 7 existing houses most of which are used as social housing resulting in a net maximum gain of just 4 houses.  Mr Cross urged the Committee not to allow itself to be manipulated in this manner and instead focus on the larger developments in more detail. 

The following statement was read out on behalf of Mr W Cope, resident of Ottery St Mary:

I wish to formally request that the EDDC Strategic Planning Committee takes into account this submission in its consideration of the list of applications it has received from landowners and developers to be put forward for consultation for the next local plan to run to 2040.  I am a resident of Ottery St Mary and unable to attend the meeting in person.

·      Firstly, it is quite clear that there is already major road congestion problems in and around Ottery St Mary as we struggle to cope with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Members accepted the minutes of the consultative Strategic Planning Committee on 9 August 2022.

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

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Dan Ledger, Affects and prejudicial Non-registerable Interest, Seat_02 - neighbouring resident.

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Olly Davey, Affects Non-registerable Interest, Met with some residents of Douglas Avenue to discuss Exmo_04; In respect of Exmo_10 neighbouring resident, just off Hulham Road.

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Paul Hayward, Affects Non-registerable Interest, Employed by Axminster Town Council.

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Philip Skinner, Affects and prejudicial Non-registerable Interest, Exmo_07 Bystock Court, Exmouth and Land east of Old Bystock Drive, Exmouth.

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillors Howe, Ingham, Lawrence, Ledger and Skinner advised lobbying emails on various sites.

Non-Committee Members

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillors Paul Millar and Nick Hookway advised lobbying on various sites in Exmouth

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Maddy Chapman, advised lobbying on various sites in Exmouth and advised predetermination on sites North of Goodmore Farm, Exmouth

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Geoff Jung, advised lobbying on sites Exmo_04, Exmo_07, Lymp_07, Lymp_08, Lymp_09, Lymp_10, Lymp_12, Lymp_13 and Lymp_14.

Minute 28. UPDATE REPORT: Site selection for the emerging East Devon Local Plan 2020 to 2040 - interim findings at Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

Councillor Jake Bonetta, Affects Non-registerable Interest, Honiton Town Councillor - all sites in Honiton and surrounding areas.

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were no matters or 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.

This report follows on from Members consideration of the site assessment work at the Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlements.

The Committee considered the Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management’s report updating on the role of any proposed new community and redevelopment of Exmouth to help address the shortfall in housing sites that some Members had queried at the previous meeting.

The report outlined that consultants had been appointed to consider options for a new community and their findings would be reported back to Members at a future meeting.  The Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management addressed a number of leading challenges for a new community including the timescale which could be in the region of 10 years before homes could start to be delivered.

In terms of development within Exmouth Town Centre the Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management advised this area had significant constraints to delivering new homes including substantial flood zones.  He referred Members to the detailed flood zone map in paragraph 3.4 advising government policy would suggest housing development would not be a viable option in these areas as it would put property and lives at risk.  He also referred to the redevelopment options of Exmouth Town Centre advising the potential number of houses within Exmouth Town Centre would be relatively small and therefore not a realistic approach.

Members noted an additional update for Seat_03.  The numbers cited in the report were different to those detailed in the site assessments in the appendices.

In response to questions raised by public speakers the Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management clarified the following points:

Ø  Officer assessments of sites were based on absolute constraints (AONBs, ecological and heritage impacts) and continuing with existing policy framework would not make sense when the council was trying to establish a new policy framework.  Communities will however have an opportunity to provide their views, concerns and issues through the consultation stage of the draft Local Plan.

Ø  Ottery St Mary had higher number of proposed sites as it had fewer constraints than Exmouth, Sidmouth or Seaton.  The Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management acknowledged there would be significant impacts on infrastructure and advised this would need to be factored into future work and reminded Members, in the meantime, the purpose for this meeting was to seek views on their preferred approach sites and their second choice sites to frame the consultation and to enable infrastructure providers to understand the implications and to enable them to comment on the proposed growth.

Ø  In response to Mr Morgan’s concerns about the impact on ancient woodlands around Exmouth he highlighted that essentially all sites had some kind of constraint/s which we would prefer to avoid.  He emphasised that difficult choices needed to be made which would impact on something that was important, whether that be ancient woodland or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ø  Finally in response to Mr Cross’s comments about smaller sites the Service Lead – Planning Strategy and Development Management advised that government policy states that 20% of our housing supply must  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.