Agenda and minutes

The Town Clerk opened the meeting by introducing herself and stating that the Sub Committee was quorate. The Town Clerk then advised that the meeting was being recorded as well as live streamed and would be made available on the City Corporation’s YouTube page for a period of time after the meeting had concluded. With this in mind, it was confirmed that participants in the meeting had all individually agreed and given their consent to being recorded and that all personal data would be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. The Town Clerk highlighted that, for further information on this, viewers could contact the City Corporation using the details provided on the public webpages.

Apologies for absence were received from William Upton QC.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2020.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the last meeting held virtually on 4 November 2020 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Dircetor, Environment.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Environment regarding next steps for the draft Local Plan, City Plan 2036, which was published for Regulation 19 pre-submission consultation between 19 March and 10 May 2021. The Executive Director, Environment introduced the report and outlined the key areas for Members.

The Sub-Committee noted that it had taken a report to the Planning Transportation Committee in December 2021 outlining the progress on the local plan and seeking approval to pause progress to enable further work to be done. This work was in relation to the objection from the Mayor of London to its tall buildings policy and the housing supply situation. There were also some wider concerns regarding the plan, such as it being completed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was noted that the advice from the Inspectorate was to continue as if the pandemic had not occurred. However, it became increasingly clear that the policies in the local plan might be out of line with the real world. It was therefore proposed that the Sub-Committee revisit the data and trends and engage with partners and stakeholders to obtain external views. Following this, it was proposed that the plan be revised, and the Sub-Committee create a plan setting out a clear and robust strategy for the post-pandemic City.

The Sub-Committee was advised to consider the key areas of evidence gathering needed to carry out to take the plan forward, provide views on these and determine if there were any areas of policy that have been missed.

The Sub-Committee had regard to the first area of the paper, sustainable, development and climate change. It was noted that the Local Plan addressed a number of issues, including achieving zero carbon by 2040. The Executive Director, Environment advised that with greater emphasis on

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

The Chair then thanked Members and officers in attendance for their contributions, before closing the meeting.