Agenda item

To inform Planning Committee members of the results of the Local Plan Viability Report

Nick Harding presented the Local Plan Viability Report to members.

Members asked officer’s the following questions;

·         Councillor Cornwell expressed the opinion that he is disappointed to see the constraints that the Council are going to have to work with. He referred to 12.63 in the officer’s report, where it states that in the northern part of the District, the scope to receive financial contributions from the developer is limited and to that end he questioned whether those provisions will form part of the Garden Town Project in Wisbech? Nick Harding stated that the Garden Town is not a proposal which is going to feature in the allocation within the new Local Plan, due to the lead in time for that development proposal being in excess of the planned period that the new Local Plan is going to be accommodating. He added that some of the work that has been carried out on the new Garden Town has looked at viability and  has recognised that a different delivery model would have to be used and it was decided that a development corporation would have to be formed to make that development happen.

·         Councillor Sutton referred to 12.51 of the officer’s report where it mentions base appraisals and asked whether there is the assumption that this information now overrides the 2014/15 ministerial statement. Nick Harding stated that the document does not override the ministerial statement and the only way we could ask for affordable housing to be provided on sites that are less than 10 dwellings is if we had in our new Local Plan clear evidence that this was needed in order to satisfy affordable housing need and it did not render small sites unviable.

·         Councillor Sutton asked for clarity with regard to what kudos should be given to the document if an application is presented which states that the developer pays nothing at all and also what weight would an inspector give to the document, if there was a difference in opinion between the Council and the Inspector. Nick Harding stated that the viability report is generic in terms of its outlook and whilst it has tried to analyse a variety of development types, it can never be as good as a site specific viability assessment. 

·         Councillor Sutton asked for clarification and stated that when considering the Womb Farm agenda item, according to the officer’s report the applicant is going to provide the amount of affordable housing, in line with the viability report being discussed. Councillor Sutton expressed the opinion that there is nothing to stop the developer coming back at the reserved matters stage with a site specific assessment where there is no affordable housing provided and asked whether he has understood that correctly. Nick Harding stated that there is always that risk and always will be, when dealing with development. He suggested that with any application that is considered, the purpose of the Section 106 Agreement is to mitigate the impact that could be generated by that development. He added that there is not going to be a significant difference from one site to another in terms of its general viability position. There maybe nuances around specific pieces of exceptional costs such as drainage costs which need to be taken into account in terms of viability exceptional costs. He added that generally the costs of building houses, borrowing money, the preparation documentation to get full panning are normally the same wherever you are, it is just whether a site encounters a particular circumstance which would mean the costs would be higher.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

·         Councillor Hay expressed the view that she welcomes the report and is happy to note the outcomes of it. She added that the report clearly sets out that in the north of the district that viability may have to be accepted, however in the south developers will have to prove that it is exceptional, as the report clearly sets out that there is viability in the south of the district.

Members AGREED to note the viability report which will be taken into consideration when determining planning applications from this point forward.

(This item was brought forward in the agenda, to enable members to consider the content, prior to determining the planning application on the agenda.)