Agenda item

This report seeks Committee approval for the second stage of consultation on the East Devon Local Plan, under plan making Regulation 19.

The Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and Development Services presented a report that sought approval for the second stage of consultation on the East Devon Local Plan, under plan making Regulation 19.  It was suggested that the consultation would run for 8 weeks starting on Friday, 28 November 2025 and ending at midday on Monday, 26 January 2026.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the redrafted Local Plan text showing tracked changes from the first consultation stage appended to the report noting that the consultation would invite comments on the revised plan and accompanying policies map. 

The report also referenced new technical studies used to refine the plan and updates to the evidence base.  It includes details on the Infrastructure Delivery Plan, Statements of Common Ground, consultation arrangements and examination and adoption processes.

A revised Statement of Community Involvement was also presented to Committee for approval which outlined the policy for consulting the community on planning policy documents and planning applications in East Devon.  In line with the Statement of Community Involvement it was proposed to run an online workshop for Town and Parish Council’s to set out the proposed second Regulation 19 Consultation to help encourage people to respond in the most productive way possible.

The Committee acknowledged that the Local Plan was based on a large amount of supporting evidence and new evidence documents including:

·       Technical reports in respect of Marlcombe

·       Highway and transport assessment

·       Pebblebed Heaths air quality reporting

·       Water cycle study

·       National Landscape paper

·       The revised flood risk topic paper

·       The self-build topic paper

·       Archaeological assessments

Questions from the committee on the documentation planned for consultation, and responses from the Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and DevelopmentServices , included:

·       Confirmation that sustainable travel options were also the ambition for employment sites;

·       Policy CC06 confirmed as requiring justification for demolition;

·       Further discussion could be had with South West Water (SWW) on the Water Cycle Study (WCS) 50% reduction in leakages being a realistic target;

·       Confirmation that conservation designation has extensive guidance, and that due to the uniqueness of each case, a scoring mechanism as used for tree preservation was not practical;

·       Mitigation measures for the Pebblebed Heath would be considered through the Habitat regulations in considering how to manage vehicles travelling through that area;

·       The plan contained reference to rainwater harvesting under Policy AR02 to include measures for harvesting wherever possible;

·       The local authority had no control over water company connection charges to developers; this was not covered by s106 agreements;

·       Parking standards were clarified for both residential and commercial development.

Site Exm20

This site had been debated at a previous meeting of the committee on 2 September 2025 and a decision made to include in the settlement boundary but with no residential development within 400m of the Pebblebed Heaths. It was suggested that employment provision should also be excluded within the 400m zone but members were advised that the current wording while not precluding employment uses does prevent uses that would be harmful to the heaths and its biodiversity.

Discussion took place on the issues with that site, and if the decision previously made by the Committee at their September meeting should be revisited. On balance, with a reminder of the application process in place to assess any harm to the Heath, the committee did not revisit their previous decision to include the site in the plan.

Site Exmo18

Clarification was sought on the rationale for not permitting access from Salterton Road to the site.  The committee were reminded of the location, being the entrance to the town, and the changing topography that would lead to extensive engineering works on the changing levels that could impact on the National Landscape designation in that area.  The committee discussed the option of a secondary access with suitable mitigation, in order to alleviate the potential increase in distance to access the site from the business park, with an agreement reached as set out in resolution 7 below.

Water Cycle Study

The recommendation set out in the report sought agreement for further consideration by the Committee following the consultation period, and after further discussion with South West Water (SWW) on the independent findings.  It was confirmed that there was no control on water usage for existing dwellings that fell under the power of the local authority.  Members were invited to email any further local evidence of concerns on capacity to the team to include in discussions with SWW.

Discussion by the committee covered the need to further discuss the findings of the study, along with local evidence of capacity levels being well below what was required – for example in Honiton.  If there were no plans by SWW for investment to resolve those capacity issues, then there were grounds for delaying development.  The option of using Grampian conditions to prohibit a development from being occupied until suitable water and sewage infrastructure is put in place is one way of dealing with applications in the meantime.

The Leader reminded the committee of previous engagement with SWW as set out in the study document, and the previous motion from the Council of no confidence in SWW. He commended the work of officers in trying to secure information but considered that there may be a role for the Scrutiny Committee to take SWW to account.

RESOLVED that the Strategic Planning Committee:

1.       Approved the revised local plan text and Policies Map for consultation, and agreed to the second round of Regulation 19 consultation starting on, or as soon as possible after, the 28^th November 2025 and on this basis for consultation to conclude on the 26^th January 2026;

2.       Grants delegated authority to the Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and Development in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Place, Infrastructure and Strategic Planning, to make minor amendments to the local plan text and Policies Map to finalise formatting and to correct any factual errors and address inconsequential anomalies in order to finalise the plan ahead of the start of consultation;

3.       Endorsed the draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan and approved it to form part of the overall material that supports, and is available at, the time the local plan consultation commences;

4.       Noted the ongoing work on production of Statements of Common Ground and granted delegated authority to the Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and Development in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Place, Infrastructure and Strategic Planning, to finalise these statements and send them out to signatory partners seeking their comments/feedback and agreement;

5.       Agreed to adopt the updated Statement of Community Involvement and agreed to its use forthwith;

6.       Agreed that a further report on the Water Cycle Study be brought to the committee following consultation, to enable discussion of its implications with the benefit of responses from consultees and further engagement with South West Water.

7.       Agreed to amend the wording in the revised local plan, in relation to site Exmo 18, to read as “to avoid adverse landscape and visual impacts on the National Landscape and its setting, primary vehicular access should be taken from the Liverton Business Park. Any secondary access from Salterton Road should be carefully designed and screened to minimise any impacts on the setting of the National Landscape”.