Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of interest (if any) from Members of the Committee arising from business to be transacted at this meeting.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business to be transacted at this meeting.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2003, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2003, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no public questions to be received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 13 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no petitions to be received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 13 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no deputations to be received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

To receive any references from Council and other Committees/Panels.

RESOLVED: To note that there were no references to be received from Council or other Committees/Panels.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer.

The Panel received a report of the Chief Planning Officer which considered the recommendations of the Inspector on the Public Local Inquiry relating to the replacement Harrow Unitary Development Plan (HUDP). The report accordingly suggested a response to each of the Inspector’s recommendations and a reason for each response. Those recommendations listed at paragraph 6 of the report and marked with an asterisk, it was advised, had been identified as requiring more detailed consideration and officers therefore proposed that they should be the subject of further reports to the Panel in due course.

It was noted that officers were recommending that the overwhelming majority of the Inspector’s recommendations be accepted and that only a small number not be accepted, either in full or in part.

The Panel were invited to consider and discuss the officer comments so far. When the Panel had agreed a complete response this would be the subject of a recommendation to Cabinet and, subject to their input, a statement of decisions would then be published, alongside the proposed modifications to the Plan that would consequently be required, and would be placed on deposit.

Officers further explained that the HUDP needed to be in general conformity with the London Plan, but due to the slippage of the programme for adopting the London Plan, it was proving difficult to progress this. Officers had scheduled a meeting with Greater London Authority officers to discuss the issue further.

During the discussion which followed, Members raised a number of general questions regarding the process of amending the HUDP, including, inter alia, what weight the Inspector’s report should be accorded by Members when determining planning applications between now and the adoption of the Replacement HUDP. In response, officers advised that the report would clearly constitute a material consideration in this interim period.

The Panel then turned to discussion of the proposed responses to the Inspector’s recommendations. The majority of the responses proposed by officers were approved by the general assent of the Panel, but, at the request of a Member, individual votes were taken on the responses proposed in relation to the following policies on which there was not unanimous support. Following the votes, the officer response to each was agreed as set out in the appendix to the officer report:

·         Policy D5 and paragraphs 4.33 and 4.37: New Residential Development – Amenity Space and Privacy; Policy D10: Rear Garden Interface

 [Note: Councillors Marilyn Ashton, Mrs Bath and Kara wished to be recorded as having voted against the approval of the officer response].

·          Policies D13 and D14: Locally Listed Buildings

[Note: Councillors Marilyn Ashton, Mrs Bath and Kara wished to be recorded as having voted against the approval of the officer response].

·         Transport Objectives – paragraph 5.12 

 [Notes: (1) Councillors Burchell, Idaikkadar, N Shah and Anne Whitehead wished to be recorded as having voted in favour of the officer response;

(2) Councillors Marilyn Ashton, Mrs Bath and Kara wished to be recorded as having voted against the approval of the officer response].  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

·         Cancellation of the Special Meeting scheduled to take place on 18 November 2003

It was noted the Panel had also made provision for a further Special Meeting to be held on 18 November in case further discussion of the recommendations of the Inspector  was required. It was now agreed that this meeting would be cancelled as it was no longer required.

RESOLVED: That the Special Meeting of the Panel scheduled for 18 November 2003 be cancelled.

·         The reform of the development plan system

Further to the previous discussions regarding the reform of the development plan system, the Chair requested that officers circulate to Members of the Panel publications which had recently been received regarding the reforms. He also requested that officers organise a training session for Members regarding the changes.

RESOLVED: That the documents referred to above be circulated to all Members of the Panel and officers organise training for Members regarding the reform of the development plan system.