Local Council Planning Induction Training 2021 Unanswered Questions: the Answers

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Local Council Planning Induction Training 2021

Unanswered Questions: the Answers

1. If it is mandatory to deliver the prescribed housing level, how does this get affected by 'land
banking'?

A. Land banking is a term that is used to describe a situation where a developer gains planning
permission but doesn’t then build out the development straight away. Planning permissions
normally remain ‘live’ for 3 years (depending on the application type and the specific wording of the
time limiting condition) before expiring so a developer could feasibly delay starting their
development until 3 years after permission was granted. We are assessed by Government through
the Housing Delivery Test on whether sufficient numbers of homes have been built over the
previous three years to meet our targets – so land banking can be a problem, if we believe that we
have sufficient permissions issued to meet targets, but they are not then built out. However, it
should be remembered that a few years ago the Government commissioned Oliver Letwin to look
into the development industry and whether land banking was an issue, and the Letwin Review
concluded that it was not a problem.

2. Could you confirm are 'second homes' part of our Local Plan's Objectively Assessed Need? And if
so, what number have been accounted for in this number?

A. Second Homes were a part of the Council’s Objectively Assessed Housing Need (OAHN) and
formed part of the examination of the Cornwall Local Plan. One of the key conclusions of the
Examination of the Local Plan was that when converting the OAHN to a housing requirement, 7%
should be added to account for the loss of homes to second homes/holiday homes in addition to the
conventional use of a vacancy/churn rate. The purpose of the uplift was not specifically to meet any
particular need for second homes/holiday homes, but to reflect the reality that homes are lost to
this purpose (both existing and new homes) of this market in Cornwall. The uplift applied to the
housing numbers was not intended to set aside for use as second/holiday homes but to provide for
an additional mix of general market and affordable housing to ensure that sufficient homes were
available to meet housing need in Cornwall.

3. Is it incumbent upon every Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) to identify a 5 yr land supply,
if CC has already identified a 6.7 supply with locations?

A. The simple answer is no. An NDP has to provide sufficient land suitable for housing to meet local
need – which is something that Cornwall Council can help groups to understand. In terms of land
supply, the Government has provided guidance that in an area where the Local Planning Authority
can demonstrate a 5 Year Land Supply, the NDP area only has to demonstrate a 3 Year Land Supply
against its target. Therefore, given that Cornwall as a whole can demonstrate a healthy 5 Year Land
Supply, this is the situation for NDPs.

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4. Is there a plan to review the Mineral Safeguarding DPD in line with declaring a Climate
Emergency? Particularly relevant in Gwennap where Cornish Metals wanting to extract tin on a large
scale which surely conflicts with climate emergency?!

A. There is no plan to update the Minerals Safeguarding DPD at this time. The areas in the Plan don't
allocate sites for mineral extraction, they purely safeguard strategic mineral resources from other
forms of development. It is recognised that metal minerals are vital for a low carbon society and any
application made would need to address national policy requirements.

5. Is there a plan to link more closely with Adult Social Care to ensure appropriately designed homes
for vulnerable and disabled people?

A. We work across services to understand the needs of our communities and changes that may be
required to meet those needs. We work with our adaptations teams to understand demand and the
sort of living environments that are required. The Council’s housing provider, Treveth, has also
worked to understand specific housing needs for its delivery programme. In planning terms, we will
use the product of discussion to understand whether additional policies, procedures or guidance are
required to ensure that such provision is made in new development and whether new policies need
to be advanced in any review of the Local Plan policies.

6. Is there going to be guidance on the need and process for updating Neighbourhood Plans? We
have already identified things we would have done differently if we were starting now.

A. The process of updating neighbourhood plans is now subject to a number of national guidance
notes that offer support and information. Because the process to update a Neighbourhood Plan is
very similar to that of creating a plan (including a process of Examination and a referendum), whilst
we would advise a regular check of whether policies are operating properly, we would only advise
updating a plan where it is absolutely necessary. The main prompt for revision will be changes in
national or local planning policy or a material change in local circumstances. We will be looking at
revising some of our neighbourhood planning guidance imminently and will consider whether an
additional note on the process and prompts for revision are required. If you have a question about
whether a particular situation or change means that you should consider revising your plan, please
contact us at: neighbourhoodplanning@cornwall.gov.uk and we will be happy to offer advice. It is
also worth considering the potential changes to the planning system that the Government are going
to propose, with an announcement and draft legislation expected in the Autumn 2021.

7. A highly visible and 'easily' accessible form of an announcement of any planning proposals would
help to involve the local community further?

A. Click on this link and scroll down to ‘Never miss a planning application’:

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https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-applications/online-planning-
register/

8. Chacewater Parish have (during lockdowns in particular) put forward several cases to enable the
Planning Committee to get a better appreciation and overview of all related issues at stake,
however, I fear this has been ignored all too frequently. Also, after the initial hiatus of Cornwall
Council advocating the Pre Planning approach 2 or 3 years ago, we have seen practically none -
indeed, several applicants have been advised to ignore pre-planning due to extra cost?

A. Latest statistics show that 93% of planning applications are determined in alignment with the local
community view. It is likely that the pandemic has discouraged developers from using PACE forums
over the past 14 months. Pre-application enquiries continue to be received by the council.

9. In the case of a Judicial Review, which quashes a planning approval, are Cornwall Councillors given
legal advice on the JR findings prior to their post-JR re-consideration of an application? (By way of a
bit of context, judicial reviews consider the process by which an application is decided, not the
content).

A. In the circumstances where an application is required to be redetermined by the relevant
Planning Committee, Councillors are provided with a copy of the Judicial Review decision and a Legal
Officer is/will be available at all Planning Committees to answer any legal questions that members
may have.

10. If Parish Council has responded "Agree to disagree", can they subsequently change that option to
request review by planning committee?

A. Yes, providing the application has not been determined under delegated powers (in other words,
by officers). The parish council should explain to the case officer the planning reasons for coming to
a different view.

11. I believe that only the Clerk to the Parish Council would submit the consultee comment, so that it
is representing the whole council rather than an individual councillors opinion?

A. In most cases it is anticipated that the Clerk would submit the consultee comment on behalf of
the parish council but many local councils may have made alternative arrangements for times when
the clerk is absent. Planning case officers would normally check if it was not clear whether the
comment received was that of an individual councillor or was made on behalf of the whole parish
council.

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12. Can landowner park a shepherd's hut next to a public footpath and use as a holiday let without
PP?

A. This would normally require planning permission. However, the situation might be different if the
shepherd’s hut was placed on land already authorised for use as a holiday accommodation site.

13. Consultee comments. When the decision to support is made, why is it not required by the
planning team for the parish council to provide justification for that decision?

A. As local councils are not statutory consultees, there is no requirement to set out reasoning for
responses. However, any supporting justification would assist the case officer understand the local
council’s stance.

14. Ref development in garden and the GPDO - what if the 'made' neighbourhood plan forbids
them?

A. Permitted Development Rights cannot be removed by a Neighbourhood Development Plan or a
Local Plan and Cornwall Council would not support a blanket policy that seeks to restrict building
extensions in garden areas. The only way that permitted development rights can be removed is
through an Article 4 Direction application to the Secretary of State by Cornwall Council. Recent
Government guidance has strongly discouraged the creation of new Article 4 Directions.

15. Does permitted development include annexes as well as extensions?

A. If the annexe provides self-contained living accommodation it would not normally be classed as
permitted development. However, the situation may different if the annexe simply provides
overspill accommodation with, for example, no cooking facilities and it is within the residential
curtilage (garden area) of the host dwelling.

16. If a planning permission is granted for a development, is it possible to grant it subject to
conditions so that the general permitted development do not apply? For example - no porches or no
conservatories?

A. Yes, but this should not be done without sound planning reasons specifying why the particular
permitted development rights are being removed.

17. We have examples of permissions given with conditions in place to protect the
landscape/AONB/night sky. 12 months after the permission granted an application is made to
discharge the conditions and the council discharge them!! How can this be allowed to happen?

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A. It’s difficult to comment on specific cases, but if information is submitted to discharge a condition
that required further information to be submitted for the council’s approval (for example, external
materials) and the Council considers the information to be satisfactory then the condition should be
discharged. If the question relates to applications being made to remove a planning condition
previously imposed on a planning permission then such applications would need to be considered on
their planning merits.

18. Does a caravan need planning permission if it is being let for holiday use.. Air BnB?

A. It depends on the circumstances but if the caravan is being used as a self-contained residential
unit for holiday purposes, planning permission would normally be required.

19. Can Enforcement report forms be made easier to fill in, as local people who want to report an
issue find it difficult.

A. Historically around 40% of all the enforcement complaints we receive turned out to be either
permitted development or not development, which meant we were visiting around 1000 cases a
year unnecessarily. This resulted in significant resource being diverted to matters that were not a
breach of planning control and reduced the time the enforcement team could spend on serious
breaches of planning control. Therefore, to address this we altered our complaint form to obtain as
much information as possible from complainants at the outset so we could triage out those cases
where we have no power to intervene. Whilst this requires complainants to provide us with
additional information, it should ultimately result in a better customer service by freeing more
resource to tackle serious breaches of planning control.