Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Place Shaping which summarised the changes that had been made to the Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) to prepare it for pre-submission consultation and submission to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination in Public.

An officer outlined the content of the report and explained how its preparation had responded to last year’s consultation and the adoption of Harrow’s Core Strategy in February 2012.  He advised that the document had been prepared from a range of sources and he also reported details of the housing capacity figures for retail, employment, previously developed, green belt and other sites.  He reported that the 3,610 homes would meet and exceed the Core Strategy target for the parts of the Borough outside of the Intensification Area.

Having considered the report, Members made comments and asked questions as follows:

·                    A Member stated that site H4: 205-209 Northolt Road, South Harrow was not in Roxeth Ward.  Members expressed concern at the condition of this site and were advised that there was currently no interest from developers.  The officer advised that sometimes developers/ land owners land banked in order to wait for an improvement in the market or land was owned by overseas investors.  Those sites that were causing problems such as this one, could be dealt with by enforcement or, as suggested by a Member and in accordance with the Core Strategy, by compulsory purchase order.

·                    A Member questioned the appropriateness and level of retail development on site R1, land between High Street and Love Lane, Pinner, and expressed surprise that no consultation response had been received from the Pinner Association.  An officer confirmed that this had been included in the pre-submission DPD in response to the NPPF and Harrow’s Retail Study as a site appropriate for retail development.  He also advised that the Retail Study had been carried out by specialist consultants who had been employed to look at development possibilities.  Not all retail sites had been included in the preferred options document and the officer re-affirmed that the document before Members was for consultation.  Another Member stated that consultants needed to visit the sites rather than merely look at aerial photographs on the internet.

·                    The inclusion of the road behind the shops in Pinner for the purposes of consultation was questioned as it was also used for deliveries to Marks and Spencer.  A Member advised that traffic officers were unclear as to who was responsible for the maintenance of the road.  The Portfolio Holder undertook to consider further the inclusion of this site.

·                    Site BD 16 should refer to Eastcote Road rather than Eastcote Lane. Roxeth Library (Site R5) was not in Roxeth Ward.

·                    A Member sought clarification on the Whitchurch Playing Fields site in that the Cabinet report for the 20 June meeting indicated that there was a proposal that a caretaker live on the site which appeared to be at odds with the DPD.  In addition, the Cabinet report stated that there would be an indoor facility whilst the DPD stated that it would be suitable for community outdoor sports use only.  The Portfolio Holder responded that, to his knowledge, there was no plan for a bungalow on the site and in terms of sports facilities, there were rooms available.  These were the current proposals from the Whitchurch Consortium.

·                    Referring to paragraph 31 of the officer report a Member indicated that she would concerned if there were to be further development in the Harrow School area.  An officer advised that it had been suggested to the school that they include community use of their facilities in their 20 year plan rather than continuing with ad hoc applications.  If the school upgraded their facilities and the Council secured community use, a premier facility would become available.

Following the questioning and responses individual Members requested meetings with officers to discuss site R1 and the proposals for Harrow School.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted and the Committee’s comments on the pre-submission version of the Site Allocations DPD be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 20 June 2012.