To consider any requests made by non-executive Members of the Council, and notified to the Monitoring Officer with seven clear working days’ notice, to include an item on the agenda of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
Cllr N Dixon requested that the Committee consider the loss of thirty-eight affordable homes at Cley Road, Holt.
Minutes:
The Chairman introduced the item and informed Members that he had been contacted regarding the loss of affordable homes at Holt, and had subsequently made the decision to include the issue on the agenda for discussion.
Questions and Discussion
i. The CE noted that correspondence had been shared with Members regarding the loss of affordable homes from the 2011 Site Allocations Plan, for which an outline application for 82 dwellings had been submitted with a policy requirement for 45% affordable housing. He added that once approved, the outline planning permission had been sold on to Norfolk Homes, who had then submitted a section 73 application to vary conditions of the original outline permission, including the affordable home requirements as part of a section 106 agreement. At this time no change was made on the provision of affordable homes, but with no agreement reached on this matter, the issue was referred to the High Court, with a judgement made against the Council that would no longer require the Developer to adhere to the requirement for 45% affordable housing.
ii. The CE reported that he had asked the Head of Planning to review the issue, and consider whether there had been any failings in the process or by individuals, and what learning could be gained from the issue. It was noted that systems and processes had now been revised, though delivering affordable homes remained a challenge. The CE stated that North Norfolk had delivered ahead of its required housing targets since 2014, significantly above the levels from 2008-2013, and as the site in question was yet to be delivered, the issue remained subject to negotiation. He added that Norfolk Homes had now submitted a revised application with a lower number of affordable homes, subject to a viability assessment. It was noted that on other developments the Council had managed similar situations via Section 106 agreements, where affordable housing could not be delivered. As a result, the CE stated that the Authority had set to protect its position on the provision of affordable homes in the context of a changing financial climate, and this case had been a learning opportunity. It was suggested that it would be helpful for the report to be presented to the Development Committee and the PPBH Working Party, to advise Members for future policy development.
iii. The DSGOS informed Members that in considering the Committee’s response to the issue, it should be noted that the Committee’s remit was limited, in that was not able to review quasi-judicial matters or regulatory decisions. He added that a potential option would be to consider the loss of affordable homes as part of the Planning performance review, that was already in place on the Committee’s 2021/22 Work Programme. It was suggested that the Committee could also recommend that the report prepared by the Head of Planning be shared with the Development Committee and PPBH Working Party, to ensure that the necessary actions had been taken in response to the issue.
iv. Cllr A Brown stated that he would welcome the report for review at PPBH Working Party, and noted that he was pleased with the efforts that had been made to negotiate twelve affordable homes as part of the revised application. He added that he had discussed the potential to review applications from the same era, to determine whether further lessons could be learnt, and confirmed that officers were confident that the Council had taken the necessary measures to avoid future occurrences.
v. Cllr L Withington referred to the future planning performance review, and asked whether focus could be placed on the mitigation measures implemented, to ensure that the Committee were satisfied that all steps had been taken to avoid reoccurrence.
vi. Cllr N Dixon proposed that a report outlining the issues and mitigation efforts taken to address the loss of affordable homes at Cley Road – Holt, be prepared for review by PPBH Working Party and the Development Committee. He added that the delivery of affordable homes and the lessons learnt from the issue should also be considered as part of the future Overview and Scrutiny Planning performance review. Cllr C Cushing seconded the proposals.
RESOLVED
1. To recommend that a report outlining the issues and mitigation efforts taken to address the loss of affordable homes at Cley Road – Holt, including the lessons to be learnt from deficient processes, be prepared for follow up action by the Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party and the Development Committee.
2. That the delivery of affordable homes, and the lessons learnt from deficient processes, be considered as part of the Overview & Scrutiny Planning Performance Review in 2021/22.