Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room 1, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB

Contact: Ron Schrieber, Democratic Services Officer  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

34.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the committee minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018 (attached). 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018 were agreed as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

35.

Declarations of interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

 

Minutes:

None.

36.

Urgent business and chairman's announcements

To receive notification of any matters which the chairman determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chairman. 

Minutes:

None.

37.

Public participation

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Minutes:

Stuart Scott-Ely, the chairman of Berinsfield Parish Council, had registered to speak on Agenda Item 7 (see Minute 39 below).

38.

Authority monitoring report 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 118 KB

To consider the report of the head of planning.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The committee considered the report of the head of planning on the Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) 2017/18, an annual report which set out the council’s progress on Local Plan preparation and assessed the effectiveness of the policies and objectives contained in the Core Strategy, as well as reporting on a number of other statutory requirements.

 

Holly Jones, planning policy manager, introduced this item. Also present to answer questions was Ben Duffy, planning policy monitoring officer.

 

In response to members’ questions, it was reported that:

·         Recent recruitment of neighbourhood planners and the establishment of a separate team (via the restructure) had provided an improved platform from which to support neighbourhood plan groups.

·         The figures in Table 4, Gross Value Added per head 2011-2016, were provided by the Office for National Statistics.

·         No applications for Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople sites had been approved in 2017/18.

 

Officers agreed to report back on the following:

·         Whether the figures in Table 4 had been adjusted for inflation.

·         Whether any applications for Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople sites had been received and rejected in 2017/18.

·         The current status of the Backhill Lane/cycle pedestrian scheme.

 

Officers also agreed to investigate the availability of data that purchasers of properties on new developments around Oxford City had moved from London and also to consider what evidence exists to indicate where these new residents work.

 

RESOLVED: to note the report.

39.

Berinsfield strategic review of progress to date and proposed way forward pdf icon PDF 160 KB

To consider the report of the head of development and regeneration (report to follow). 

Minutes:

The committee considered the report of the head of development and regeneration on the Berinsfield project. The report sought comments to Cabinet on the strategic review of progress to date and the proposed way forward.

 

Paul Harrison, Cabinet member for development and regeneration, introduced this item. Also present to answer questions were Mark Stone, chief executive, Suzanne Malcolm, head of development and regeneration, Jayne Bolton, infrastructure and development manager, Charlotte Cottingham, development projects team leader, and Kathryn Wood, Cushman and Wakefield.

 

The report set out three options for the proposed way forward:

a)    The council retains some element of control over the project while ensuring that it does not take on too much responsibility and associated risk.

b)    The council invests considerable additional resources, staff and financial to acquire the land (either alone or in partnership with other stakeholders) and deliver the new development and community infrastructure as a developer.

c)    The council retains only the level of control available through the planning process and, once the Local Plan has set the strategic framework, the major development site and infill sites in the existing village may be delivered by the private sector.

 

Stuart Scott-Ely, representing Berinsfield Parish Council, addressed the committee. He stated that the parish council’s preferred option was b) and expressed concern about what he perceived to a lack of transparency with regard to this project and the district council’s unwillingness to engage with the parish council.

 

In response, the Cabinet Member and officers acknowledged that there had been a lack of communication with Berinsfield Parish Council and outlined the reasons why this had not been possible until now. Subject to Cabinet approving the recommendations on 31 January, the Cabinet member and officers would attend the next parish council meeting to discuss the proposed way forward. The Cabinet member and officers also explained why, in their view, option a) was the best way of delivering the project.

 

RESOLVED: to note the report

40.

Work schedule and dates for all South and Vale scrutiny meetings pdf icon PDF 66 KB

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

 

Minutes:

The committee noted its work programme.

41.

Exclusion of the public

To consider whether to exclude members of the press and public from the meeting for the following item of business under Part 1 of Schedule 12A Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 on the grounds that:

(i)        it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and

(ii)       the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to exclude members of the press and public from the meeting for the following items of business under Part 1 of Schedule 12A Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 on the grounds that:

i.      it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and

ii.    the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

42.

Berinsfield strategic review of progress to date and proposed way forward - Appendix

To receive the confidential appendix to the head of development and regeneration’s report (appendix to follow). 

Minutes:

The appendix was noted.

 

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