Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room 4, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, HA9 9HD. View directions
Contact: Joe Kwateng, Democratic Services Officer 020 8937 1354, Email: joe.kwateng@brent.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
Declarations of personal and prejudicial interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on this agenda. Minutes: None declared. |
|
Response to Department for Communities and Local Government's Illegal Landlords Initiative PDF 95 KB Brent has recently received £163,745k from the Department for Communities and Local Government to support work targeted primarily at more effective enforcement of unauthorised ‘beds in sheds’. The issue has had media coverage and the Housing Minister is drafting guidance for local authorities where a significant problem of what they refer to as ‘illegal landlords’ are thought to exist. There is an expectation on councils to prepare action plans to target the funding. There is also a possibility of influencing Government policy and using the localism agenda to develop initiatives in Brent. Minutes: Chris Walker (Assistant Director – Planning and Development, Regeneration and Major Projects) presented this item, stating that the Government’s Illegal Landlords Initiative was in response to what was perceived as a growing problem nationally, particularly in respect of ‘beds in sheds’ relating to the use of outbuildings in residential gardens. The Planning Service had been aware of the problem in Brent for a while and had been taking enforcement action dependent upon neighbouring residents reporting such transgressions. Chris Walker confirmed that the council had received funding of £163,745 from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) as part of a Government led initiative to tackle the problem. One of the immediate priorities involved establishing the extent of the problem in the borough. Members heard that the problem was also particularly acute in other parts of London, such as the Southall area of Ealing and also Newham, where considerable funds were being used to tackle the issue, however the council was also undertaking more action than most other local authorities. The DCLG Initiative did not propose any new legislation and was using existing powers to promote actions against landlords from misuse of outbuildings.
Chris Walker drew Members’ attention to the appendix of the report that set out the measures proposed in the action plan and he explained that the approach taken would also involve increasing co-operation with other service areas and agencies. He then circulated photographs to Members that illustrated examples of outbuildings in gardens that violated planning regulations. He advised that although it was a problem that needed to be addressed, in some cases it also needed to be acknowledged that some families may be reliant on such accommodation and any subsequent enforcement action needed to be balanced by taking into account the risk that such families could become homeless. He also advised that the council had the ability to use Article 4 Directions and other Local Development Orders that would require a landlord to seek the appropriate planning permission for larger garden buildings prior to construction. Enforcement action would also be targeted in those areas where it was identified that ‘beds in sheds’ developments were more frequent.
Chris Walker advised that it was not intended to divert resources from other vital planning functions and so it was proposed to use the Government funding to recruit additional staff to work on a limited programme to support the Initiative over the next 12 to 18 months. He referred to the recommendations in the report which if agreed, would be reported back to the committee in 12 months updating them on progress.
During discussion, Councillor Cummins commented that there were a number of ‘beds in sheds’ cases refused by the council that were subsequently approved by the Planning Inspectorate and he felt there was a need for a clear policy to be published to restrict the volume of such cases. In addition, landlords could be reminded that such developments may not be able to obtain a Certificate of Lawfulness which would ... view the full minutes text for item 2. |
|
Having considered responses to consultation on the Wembley Area Action Plan Issues and Options document in September last year, it is now proposed to consult on the Council’s Preferred Options. This is effectively a draft new Development Plan for Wembley. This report provides a summary of the main consultation responses, explains the contents of the draft Plan and recommends that this is made available for public consultation for eight weeks commencing on 13 August 2012. The Wembley Area Action Plan Preferred Options document is to follow. Minutes: Ken Hullock (Policy Manager – Planning and Development, Regeneration and Major Projects) introduced the report that summarised the responses to the Wembley Area Action Plan issues and options document consultation and outlined the preferred options of the Area Action Plan with a view to including them as part of the Development Plan for Wembley. The document provided more weight to guidance about specific sites in Wembley, whilst also explaining how the preferred options were deliverable. Ken Hullock referred to the summary of consultation responses at the issues and options stage as set out in the report which included a list of the organisations that had responded. He then provided a summary of the preferred options with particular reference to the following:-
· Urban design and placemaking · Business, industry and waste · Town centres, shopping, leisure and tourism · Transport · Housing · Social infrastructure · Climate change · Open space, sports and wildlife
Ken Hullock advised that that there were also a number of sites identified for more detailed planning guidance for potential development. He added that some developers had already expressed an interest in respect of developing sites at the Chiltern Line cuttings north and south. Members also heard that in respect of the Brent House and Copland School site, the preference was for a large food store as this was seen as a good location for a town centre supermarket. There was also to be a new policy that would prevent any new hot food takeaways being within 400m of schools and to make up no more than 7% of the total retail units for particular stretches of roads. Transport improvements would be undertaken through a variety of measures, including junction improvements, whilst car parking standards would be tightened to encourage use of other modes especially public transport. In respect of housing, a new policy for affordable rents was proposed in line with the new Government policy that affordable rents should have regard to local market rates. Student accommodation, which was already plentiful in the area, would be capped at 20% of the new population as there was a need to provide capacity for the projected increase in population in the area in future years. Ken Hullock confirmed that consultation of the preferred options would commence in August 2012, followed by a pre-submission consultation of the Action Plan in December 2012. The formal submission of the Action Plan would take place in March 2013 and examination hearings in July 2013 with a view to formally adoption the Action Plan in December 2013.
During discussion, Councillor R S Patel enquired if there were any proposals to improve traffic flow and parking provision in Wembley High Road and increase the number of public conveniences in the Wembley area. Councillor John commented that the developer in respect of the Chiltern Line cuttings sites had been shrewd in approaching Network Rail to obtain their prior support in any proposals that may be submitted. She enquired how many parking spaces were envisaged at the Brent House site. In respect of ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
|
National Planning Policy Framework PDF 110 KB This report updates Members on changes to national planning policy through the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework in March 2012. This report provides a summary of key policies within it and the implications for Brent. Minutes: Alex Bird (Planning Officer – Planning and Transport, Regeneration and Major Projects) introduced the report and confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) applied to all the council’s decision-making in respect of planning since March 2012. The NPPF replaced nearly all existing national planning policy and guidance included in national Planning Policy Guidance notes and Planning Policy Statements which had the effect of reducing national planning policy from several hundred pages to under 50 pages. Alison Bird referred Members to the key policies in the new NPPF with regard to presumption in favour of sustainable development, core planning principles, economy, town centres, transport, housing, design, historic development, natural environment, climate change and plan-making as set out in the report. She also advised that local planning authorities may give full weight to relevant policies since 2004 for 12 months even if there was some conflict with the NPPF, whilst no consideration could be given to policies adopted before 2004 where they conflicted with NPPF or where the NPPF was silent. Such factors would have significant implications for planning matters in the borough.
RESOLVED:-
that the contents of the new National Planning Policy Framework and the implications of this for making planning decisions in Brent be noted. |
|
Date of next meeting The next meeting of the Planning Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 July 2012 at 7.00 pm and will consider planning applications. The site visits will take place the preceding Saturday, 21 July 2012 at 9.30 am when the coach leaves Brent House.
The next Planning Committee meeting to consider policy issues is scheduled for Tuesday, 6 November 2012 at 7.00 pm. Minutes: It was noted that the next meeting of the Planning Committee was scheduled for Wednesday, 25 July 2012 to consider planning applications, with the site visit taking place the preceding Saturday, 21 July 2012 at 9.30 am when the coach leaves Brent House.
It was also noted that the next Planning Committee meeting to consider policy issues was scheduled for Tuesday, 6 November 2012 at 7.00 pm. |
|
Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64.
Minutes: Unitary Development Plan
Chris Walker advised that a review of the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) was due to take place to consider a number of development management policies and this would involve full engagement with the committee to address the concerns that had been raised and would be discussed at the next meeting where policy issues are being considered. In particular, policies to apply to new developments would be considered where the council had learned a lot from the experiences of the last five years. There was also a need to refresh some aspects of design guidance in respect of conservation areas and a fuller discussion on design issues taking on board the committee’s concerns would take place with Members at a mini workshop.
Councillor Cummins drew attention to the fact that residents who owned only a part of a building were limited by planning controls to a much smaller dormer window on rear extensions as opposed to those who owned the entire building. He felt that this was an unfortunate anomaly that was frequently raised by residents with councillors and he suggested that this issue should be considered as part of the review.
Councillor Daly felt that there should be further consideration of some of the unintended consequences of planning decisions in respect of design, for example where planning permission had been approved that had led to anti-social activities taking place. She cited an example of a bicycle shed in her ward that was being used for fly tipping. |