Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Keith Bottomley.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 19 September 2018.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 19 September 2018 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment drawing attention to the main changes that have been made to the draft policies within the new Local Plan since they were originally considered by Members and seeking approval for the draft Plan in its entirety to go forward to the Grand Committee for consideration later this month.

Members were informed that a key diagram setting out all of the areas referred to within the Plan spatially would accompany the draft submitted to Grand Committee.

The Director of Built Environment proceeded to talk Members through each of the substantive changes as follows:

·         Strengthening of Policy Wording across the Plan

The Director of the Built Environment reported that the tone of the Plan had been strengthened where appropriate with references to ‘should’ changed to ‘must’ and ‘could’ to ‘should’ throughout.

·         Alignment with new Corporate Plan

The draft vision and strategic objectives had been updated to dovetail more effectively with the Corporate Plan. A Member requested that Officers check that any figures quoted within the to Plans were consistent across these and various other relevant policies.

·         Noise and Light Pollution Policy

Officers reported that, in response to comments previously made by the Sub-Committee, the Noise and Light Pollution Policy had been amended to cover both aspects adequately. In response to a Member who questioned if the Plan was clear enough in terms of what would be taken into account on daylight and sunlight, the Director of the Built Environment reported that this had been worked in to the design policies and highlighted that ideal daylight and sunlight conditions may not be practical in densely-developed city centre locations.

·         Protecting Social, Community and Sporting Facilities in situ

The Director of Built Environment reported that a cascade approach was to be adopted whereby

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment detailing the draft City of London Transport Strategy.

The Chairman questioned the use of the word ‘delight’ within the visions, aims and outcomes text. Officers reported that this had been well received at initial consultation and it was therefore felt that this was appropriate. Officers reported that reference to ‘super blocks’ had also been removed from this document following initial comments received and to make it consistent with the Local Plan in this respect.

A Member commented that passing a resolution to shift from 20 to 15mph may prove challenging and he therefore asked for the justification behind this given that it was likely to be one of the Strategy’s hottest topics. Officers reported that they wanted this document to make a difference. Evidence showed that the likelihood of fatal collisions was much diminished at 15 versus 20mph.

The Sub-Committee recognised that, whilst this shift would be perceived as radical and had not been adopted elsewhere in London to date, there was no reason that the City should not lead on this initiative, particularly when keeping in mind the Mayor of London’s aspirations around ‘Vision Zero’. Officers went on to highlight that the City was a totally unique area of London, particularly given the amount of pedestrian footfall in the square mile which was only set to increase in future years.

The Chairman praised the Strategy for being bold and innovative in an attempt to incite real change. In response to questions, Officers reported that, aside from the 15mph proposals, issues around pedestrian priority at certain times, a 50% reduction in peak time deliveries and cycling may also incite debate.

In response to questions, Officers reported that the proposals within the draft document largely aligned with or were

There were no questions.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No.                                                          Exempt Paragraph(s)

9-10                                                                 -

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

The Chairman informed the Sub-Committee about media interest around the draft Local Plan and Transport Strategy.