Agenda and minutes

The Mayor to report apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Jenny Else, Jill Hargreaves, Val Henry, Martin Lear, Sam Pritchard, Wyatt Ramsdale, Stefan Reynolds, David Round, Jeanette Stennett, Stewart Stennett, John Ward, Ross Welland, and Liz Wheatley.

To receive from Members, declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no interests declared under this heading.

To receive the Minutes of the Special Executive meeting held at 5pm on 31 October 2018, and to consider the recommendations from the Executive on:

·         Community Infrastructure Levy – Adoption of Charging Schedule

·         Sweetman Judgement and the requirement for a Supplementary Note on the Thames Basin Heaths and Hindhead Avoidance Strategies

The full reports relating to these items are contained in the Special Executive agenda  for 31 October 2018 which has been sent to all Members to read in advance of the Council meeting.

The relevant extracts from the Special Executive minutes will be tabled at the Council meeting.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ITEM ON THE LOCAL PLAN PART 2 PRE-SUBMISSION DRAFT HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN FROM THE AGENDA OF THE SPECIAL EXECTUVE ON 31 OCTOBER, AND THERE WILL BE NO RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL.

1.       It was moved by the Leader of the Council, duly seconded and

          RESOLVED      that the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Executive held on 31 October 2018 be received and noted.

The Leader reported that that there were two items under Part 1 for consideration by the Council:

2.       Community Infrastructure Levy – Adoption of Charging Schedule (Minute EXE 44/18)

2.1     The Leader welcomed the report of the examiner and the finding that the CIL rates were supported by sound evidence. Implementation of CIL would enable the Council to start collecting contributions towards infrastructure to support development.

2.2     Cllr Follows agreed that it was exciting to finally be in a position to adopt CIL, but he had significant concerns that the expected windfall would be largely hypothetical: since the adoption of Local Plan Part 1 the Joint Planning Committee had determined many planning applications which had all avoided payment of CIL. More recently, there had been a number of developers who had tried to avoid providing affordable housing for viability reasons, and he was sceptical that the Council would see any affordable housing offered once CIL was implemented.

2.3     Cllr Adams was very pleased to see that the proposed CIL rates had been accepted. He did not accept that the high CIL rates would impact on delivery of affordable housing as the viability of the rates had been thoroughly evidenced. Whilst it was true that a lot of planning applications had already been submitted, the Local Plan period was through to 2032. He congratulated officers on their work to bring the CIL Charging Schedule to Council for adoption.

2.4     Cllr Hyman reported that Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee had reviewed the Examiner’s report and noted that he recommended a review of the CIL rates in 3 years. While Cllr Hyman shared the concerns of Cllr Follows, he hoped that the Council would be robust in negotiations with developers over delivery of affordable housing.

2.5     Cllr Storey, as Planning Portfolio Holder, thanked the Planning Policy team for their work in developing the CIL Charging Schedule and getting it through the examination. He emphasised that the adoption of CIL would provide certainty to developers about their liabilities, rather than having to guess the financial impact of a S106 agreement, and calculation of viability had been standardised so there would not be an opportunity to dispute the outcome.

2.6     Cllr MacLeod relayed the concerns that had been expressed at a recent meeting of the Farnham Society, when residents had noted the impact of CIL on the cost of building a relatively small house. Developers already blamed Waverley at planning appeals for housing not being built, and CIL was a further barrier to delivering housing numbers.

2.7     In conclusion, the Leader emphasised that the viability of the CIL rates had been thoroughly tested at examination, and found to be sound. Councillors’ concerns about deliverability of affordable housing were noted, and it was important that Planning Officers were given clear direction to remain firm  ...  view the full minutes text for item CNL38/18

Council to note that:

·         Cllr Sam Pritchard has resigned from the Audit Committee; and,

·         Under the Scheme of Delegation to the Head of Policy & Governance, and with the agreement of the Leader of the Conservative Group, Cllr Robert Knowles has been appointed to fill the vacancy with effect from Monday 22 October 2018.

The Council noted that:

·         Cllr Sam Pritchard had resigned from the Audit Committee; and

·         Under the Scheme of Delegation to the Head of Policy & Governance, and the with the agreement of the Leader of the Conservative Group, Cllr Robert Knowles has been appointed to fill the vacancy with effect from Monday 22 October 2018.