Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Coastal Protection and Flooding advised that this had taken seven years to get to this point, it was an essential tool when considering planning applications. Since 2021 further consultation had taken place and the proposed Strategy made commitments to discounts for affordable rented accommodation on the Island.

He advised that the Strategy reduced the current number of houses required to be built each year to 453, the deadline for the strategy was 2025.

A proposal to amend the recommendations was put:

That the Draft Island Planning Strategy (DIPS) is returned to cabinet with a request that cabinet considers the matters set out below and returns the DIPS not later than the end of April to Full Council with the said matters included in a revised DIPS or alternatively cabinet shall inform Full Council of the reasons why the said matters are in its opinion unsuitable to be included in a revised version of the DIPS.

The said matters referred to above are:

i). Paragraph 6.15 is amended as in italic below,

The location of a potential development site within a settlement boundary is the first test in establishing the suitability of a site, in principle, for development. Once this principle is established more detailed issues covered by other policies in the Island Planning Strategy such as design, density and potential impact on the surrounding area and the environment are considered. If, on the planning balance, the development proposal is unacceptable in relation to these detailed issues it will be refused. Therefore, in this respect, both a sites allocation in this Plan together with due consideration by the Planning Committee of other relevant policies (within this Plan and the NPPF) shall be required in order for planning permission to be given i.e. a sites allocation in this plan shall not alone constitute a material consideration in the decision of whether to give planning permission.

ii). Windfall sites should only be ‘allowed’ in wider rural area if they qualify with policy re rural exception, infill, first home exception, self and custom build, or new homes sites.

iii). Para 7.78 DIPS should be deleted as inconsistent with definition of rural exception sites.

iv). Allocated sites that are not policy compliant, or are contrary to a neighbourhood plan, or inconsistent with NPPF e.g. ‘best and most versatile’ agricultural land, should be removed from the DIPS.

v). ‘local need’ should not be ID by use of the IoW Housing Needs Assessment as to do so would be inconsistent with policy and NPPF.

After a short adjournment to allow for hard copies of the proposed changes be made and circulated, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Coastal Protection and Flooding accepted the alternative recommendation wording.

There was some concern regarding the deadline for the proposed Strategy and that referring the matter back to Cabinet would delay further. Council were advised that a short delay could be accommodated.

Following further debate in accordance with the Council’s Constitution (Part 4B – Procedure Rules Governing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85