Agenda item

The Director of the Department of the Built Environment to be heard.

The Assistant Director (Planning & Policy) provided Members with a verbal update on the Local Plan consultation.

Members were informed that the Plan had been out for consultation from November until February. All City residents had been contacted regarding the Plan and emails had been sent to over 500 recipients on the Department’s mailing list. Members were informed that 175 responses to the consultation had been received to date which, whilst lower than anticipated, was approximately double the number of responses received for previous consultations. Officers reported that, whilst the CPA had around 150 members, they had chosen to submit a single, collective response.

Members were informed that the Local Plan had received lots of press and social media coverage since the launch of the consultation period. Officers reported that key issues that had emerged so far indicated that there was strong support for ‘greening’ in the City and for efforts around managing intensification in the City Cluster. Concerns around the protection of views of St Paul’s and the Tower of London had also emerged as key. Developers had expressed concerns around the cumulative impact of the City’s policies.

Officers tabled details of the City Plan Drop-In Sessions that had taken place throughout the consultation process as well as Stakeholder and public meetings. It was reported that this Committee would be tasked with looking at the responses received in greater detail in due course. The Assistant Director (Planning & Policy) highlighted the Youth Engagement Event that had taken place. He reported that the group involved had been aged 17-24 years and that there had been 38 participants. He reported that the group had been very engaged and tabled an evaluation report compiled from the feedback, outcomes and learning from the youth consultation event.

A Member stated that he was currently acting as Chairman for the Partnership of Young London, a London-wide youth group, and suggested that Officers could also engaged on the Local Plan here if it was thought to be of some use. He applauded their efforts in actively engaging young people in this consultation. It was noted that the CPA also had a ‘next generation’ body that might be useful in terms of future youth engagement efforts.

The Assistant Director (Planning & Policy) stated that, interestingly, the event had revealed that the group were sceptical of the Cultural Mile, the new Centre for Music and the need to relocate the Museum of London. They stated that they felt unengaged with these proposals. Members highlighted that part of the issue here could be a generational divide in terms of the definition of culture. It was recognised that the City could and should do more to address these concerns - for instance around the wider promotion, inclusiveness, affordability and accessibility of all of its cultural offerings.  It was suggested that this be fed back to the Cultural Mile Director.

The Chairman reported that it was proposed that the Local Plan be brought back to this Committee in greater detail in May and asked that the Town Clerk identify a suitable date for this meeting alongside relevant Officers. It was noted that a new Chairman and Sub Committee membership would have been established by this stage.

A Member referred to the concerns raised by the industry in relation to the cumulative impact of the City’s policies and suggested that it might therefore be necessary to prioritise these.

Another Member picked up on comments that suggested that City residents had expressed the view that they felt marginalised and asked for further information on this. The Assistant Director (Planning & Policy) stated that these comments had originated, in the main part, from Barbican and Golden Lane residents around the fact that they felt that the City was prioritising business needs. The Member commented that he hoped that the Local Plan would help to establish clear residential zones where amenities would be highlighted. In response to further questions, the Assistant Director (Planning & Policy) confirmed that the Barbican Residents Association had submitted a response to the consultation.

The Chairman recognised that many residents (of which there were approximately 8,000 in the City) were strongly of the view that they were not recognised as stakeholders in planning terms. He added that some recent planning applications, particularly those where the City Corporation had been the developer, had, unfortunately, created a strained relationship with residents.

A Member stated that he had hoped to see better engagement from residents in general but added that it was important to note that those responses received suggested that residents were generally happier with the new draft Plan than with the existing version.

The Deputy Chairman stated that he would expect these kinds of views to be voiced more strongly from those based in smaller residential pockets within the City which, it could be argued, were more disadvantaged in terms of having a voice/amenity protection than those in the larger residential areas. It was noted that work around the Cultural Mile had managed to successfully bring together both businesses and residents for a common purpose and that this was something that should be promoted and built upon by the Local Plan.

Members were keen to increase the narrative that the more business there was in the City, the more the City would continue to thrive which would ultimately be of benefit to all, including City residents.

RESOLVED – That Members note the initial headlines from the Local Plan Consultation and that this would be considered in greater detail at their next meeting on a date to be confirmed in May 2018.