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Agenda and minutes
 

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Crematorium Meeting Room - North Devon Crematorium. View directions

Contact: Corporate and Community Services  01271 388253

Note: From the 7 May 2021, the law requires all councils to hold formal meetings in person. The Council is also ensuring that all venues used are Covid secure and that all appropriate measures are put in place. This meeting will be webcast on https://watch.obitus.com/. The username is muba9689 and password is 230554. A recording will be available for 28 days following the meeting. There are limited spaces available for members of the public to attend in person, therefore if you would like to book a place, please contact Corporate and Community Services by 12noon on Monday 4 October 2021 by telephoning 01271 388253 or emailing member.services@northdevon.gov.uk. For track and trace purposes you will be required to provide your name, address and contact telephone number. This data will be held by the Council for 21 days. 

Items
No. Item

53.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bulled, Bushell, Campbell, Cann, Chesters, Davis, Fowler, Henderson, Knight, Luggar, Saxby and Yabsley.

54.

Business brought forward by or with the consent of the Chair

Minutes:

There was no business brought forward by or with the consent of the Chair.

55.

Declarations of Interest

(NB. Members only need to re-declare any interests previously declared at Committee and Sub-Committee meetings if the item is discussed at Council).

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest received.

56.

Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan pdf icon PDF 468 KB

Report by Senior Planning Policy Officer (attached).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered a report by the Senior Planning Policy Officer (circulated previously) regarding Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan.

 

The Senior Planning Policy Officer advised the following:

 

·       An adopted Neighbourhood Plan would form part of the Council’s statutory development plan and be used alongside the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan in determining planning applications in the parish of Georgeham.

·       The responsibility for preparing a neighbourhood plan resided with the designated “qualifying body” being Georgeham Parish Council. However, the Council (as local planning authority) had a range of legislative responsibilities that it was required to discharge in support of neighbourhood planning.

·       The Parish of Georgeham was formally designated as a Neighbourhood Area for the purposes of neighbourhood planning by resolution of this Council in December 2015.

·       The Parish Council embarked on the process of preparing the neighbourhood plan, carrying out an extensive programme of work and engagement with the local community.

·       A formal pre-submission consultation was undertaken in accordance with the neighbourhood planning regulations in February 2021.

·       Following the Parish Council’s consideration of all the representations received, the Neighbourhood Plan was submitted formally to the Council on 9 May 2021.

·       Following a series of checks, the Council undertook formal consultation on the submission Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with the neighbourhood planning regulations for a period of 6 weeks.

·       In July 2021, the Council appointed an Independent Examiner to determine whether the Plan should be recommended to proceed to referendum. In doing so the examiner was required to consider a number of issues as detailed in paragraph 4.7 of the report.

·       The Independent Examiners report was attached to the report as Appendix A. The Examiner had only proposed 8 modifications to the plan as detailed in Appendix A of the Examiners report.

·       The Examiner commended the Parish Council for their efforts on the neighbourhood plan as detailed in paragraph 4.19 of the report.

·       Officers of the Council also concurred with the sentiments of the Examiner.

 

It was moved by Councillor Barker and seconded by Councillor Wilkinson “that the recommendations in the report be adopted”.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)  That the recommendations and modifications proposed by the examiner in relation to the Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan, as set out in the examiner’s report (Appendix A) be accepted;

 

(b)  That the Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan be amended to include:

 

(i)             the Proposed Modifications set out by the examiner in his report (Appendix to the examiner’s report);

(ii)            the minor modifications identified in this report (Appendix B); and

(iii)          any further changes of a minor nature necessary to address typographic, spelling and grammatical errors, improve clarity, adjustment to ensure plan wide consistency of terminology, presentational improvements, factual updates and updated information with regard to the status of the Neighbourhood Plan;

 

(c)  That the Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan, as amended, proceeds to referendum, at a date yet to be determined;

 

(d)  That the geographical area for the referendum be the Georgeham Neighbourhood Area (Civil Parish of Georgeham); and

 

(e)  That the above decisions and associated reasons in a formal Decision Statement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

57.

Formation of Planning Policy Joint Committee adopting alternative arrangements under Section 17 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 pdf icon PDF 472 KB

Joint report by Head of Place, Property and Regeneration and Solicitor (attached).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered a joint report by the Head of Place and Property and Solicitor (circulated previously) regarding the formation of a Joint Planning Policy Committee.

 

The Solicitor advised the following

 

·       Council had resolved at its meeting on 25 November 2020 that the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan be reviewed and updated.

·       The preparation of the current adopted Joint Local Plan had been overseen by a Joint Local Plan working Group, whereby 4 Members from both North Devon and Torridge District Councils were appointed.  This was an informal working group and was not open to the public.

·       The Planning Advisory Service had recommended the setting up of a joint Planning Policy Committee.

·       A draft agreement for a Joint Planning Policy Committee had been prepared in consultation and agreement with Torridge District Council.

·       It was proposed that 7 Members from each Council be appointed to the Joint Committee (14 Members in total).

·       It was proposed that the Joint Committee be responsible for a number of delegated functions as detailed in paragraph 4.13 of the report.

·       It was recommended that the Joint Committee not be politically balanced.

·       That the Group Leaders of North Devon Council had agreed that the following Councillors be appointed to the Joint Committee: Councillors Chesters, Lofthouse, Prowse, D. Spear, Tucker, Worden and Yabsley.

 

It was moved by Councillor Roome and seconded by Councillor Prowse “that the recommendations be adopted and that Councillors Chesters, Lofthouse, Prowse, D. Spear, Tucker, Worden and Yabsley be appointed to the Joint Planning Policy Committee.”

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)  That a Joint Planning Policy Committee be formed in accordance with the ‘Agreement for a Joint Planning Policy Committee’ appended to the report (subject to a successful Torridge District Council resolution for the same);

 

(b)  That alternative arrangements for political balance under section 17(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 be approved and that membership of the Joint Committee be as set out in the Agreement;

 

(c)  That the following Councillors be appointed to the Joint Committee:

Councillors Chesters, Lofthouse, Prowse, D. Spear, Tucker, Worden and Yabsley.

58.

Northern Devon Futures Update

Chief Executive to report.

Minutes:

The Chief Executive provided Council with an update on the Northern Devon Futures partnership. He advised Council of the following:

 

·       The history of setting up the Northern Devon Futures partnership. It was a partnership of organisations working together to improve the lives of those who lived and worked in Northern Devon and to plan for the future of the area.

·       As North Devon was 1 economic area, Torridge District Council was also part of the programme.

·       Discussions had taken place with One Northern Devon regarding their role within the group and it had been agreed that their role would be a delivery partner and not as a strategic partner on the group.

·       Northern Devon Futures Board was currently chaired by Petroc. Membership of the board included the MP’s for both North Devon and Torridge, both District Councils, Devon County Council, the Police, the NHS, Heart of the South West LEP and Chamber of Commerce.

·       Discussions had taken place regarding the future of partnership and themed groups that would be established, governance and secretariat arrangements. The partnership was a collaboration and staffed by the organisations that formed the partnership to drive forward the strategic vision and projects for North Devon.  

·       The secretariat team serviced meetings of the Board and Action Groups and progressed the Partnership’s strategy and actions. Team members were employed by partner organisations. A number of themed sub groups had been established which included: Children and Young People; Economy, Innovation and Skills; Health and wellbeing liaison; Place and Community; New Funding Proposals Support; and Climate Emergency.  Each group would be Chaired by a member of the secretariat team. The themed groups would put forward the main issues and priorities to be incorporated into the overall strategy for Northern Devon.

·       The main aim of the Board was to create a single vision for Northern Devon and make sure all partners had an input into strategic plans such as the Local Plan which would then help to shape their own organisation’s strategies.

·       There was currently no representative from the Culture sector on the Board and a representative would be sought from the Arts Council board.

·       The next meeting of the Board would be held in October 2021 and more regular meetings would then be scheduled.

 

In response to questions, the Chief Executive advised the following:

 

·       Transport was a cross cutting theme and would be included under Economy and Place. Devon County Council were represented on the Board.

·       Discussions had taken place with One Northern Devon regarding their role on the Board and they were of the view that they were a delivery partner across all of the sectors.  The role of One Northern Devon was unchanged and would continue to operate as they were currently. North Devon Council valued One Northern Devon as an organisation and the Council would not have been able to provide the community response to the Covid pandemic without their support.

·       There were democratic representations on the Board such as the Leaders of North Devon and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.