Agenda and minutes

Mr Leslie welcomed those present to the meeting.  Following introductions he advised that all new representatives to the SESplan Joint Meeting had received briefings from officers in advance of the Joint Committee meeting.  He stated that over the past year there had been an effective balance of formal meetings and workshops which had enabled important decisions to be taken to progress Plan production.

There were no changes to the order of business or urgent matters to be considered.

Members were informed that the Joint Committee was convened and chaired by one authority on a two year rotation, with Scottish Borders Council holding the chair until 1 January 2018.  Councillor Fullarton proposed that Councillor Bell remain Convener of the SESplan Joint Committee and this was unanimously agreed.  It was also unanimously agreed that Councillor Beare, Fife Council, be appointed Vice-Chairman.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)        That Councillor Bell be appointed Convener of the SESplan Joint Committee; and

(b)        That Councillor Beare be appointed as Vice-Convener of the SESplan Joint Committee.

The Minute of the Meeting of 13 March 2017 had been circulated.

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute as a correct record.

5.1              There had been circulated copies of a report by the Acting SDP Manager, seeking the Joint Committee’s approval of the Strategic Development Plan Authority’s (SDPA) response to the representations received on the second Proposed Strategic Development Plan (the Proposed Plan).  The report sought an agreement that no modifications should be made to the Proposed Plan in response to these representations; and that the Proposed Plan be submitted to Scottish Ministers for examination.   Ms Miles advised that the first Strategic Development Plan (the current SDP) had been approved by Scottish Ministers on 27 June 2013.  The second proposed Strategic Development Plan required submission for Examination by 27 June 2017.  It was noted, following the local elections, that there were a number of new Members to the Joint Committee who had not been involved in the decision making process.   However, all new Members had been fully briefed by their respective councils and had received copies of the Proposed Plan with the Agenda. 

5.2              With reference to paragraph 4 of the Minute of 13 March, the Convener advised that the Joint Committee had approved the summary of unresolved issues 1 – 13 and 15 – 17.  The Joint Committee had also requested that officers review Issue 14 (Strategic Transport Improvements) and report back.   There followed a discussion on how growth would impact transport movements across local authority boundaries.  It was agreed that the Convener, on behalf of SESplan, make representations to Scottish Government requesting that they prioritise consideration of the effect the growth in housing and employment would have on infrastructure and the requirement for transport interventions which would resolve transport impacts.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     To approve the Summary of Unresolved Issues 1 – 17 and note the representations received set out within Schedule 4s referred to in Section 2 and Appendix 1 to the Report;

(b)     That no modifications were made to the Proposed Plan published in October 2016;

(c)     To delegate authority to the Acting SDP Manager and Chair of the Project Board to undertake editorial changes and finalise the Schedule 4s and related material for submission to Scottish Ministers for Examination as set out in Section 3 of the report;

(d)     To note the Easy Read Guide to the Cross Boundary Study final report attached as Appendix 2 to the report;

(e)     To approve the Report of Conformity with the Participation Statement attached as Appendix 3 to the Report;

(f)      To approve the unmodified Proposed Plan for submission to Scottish Ministers by no later than 27 June 2017; and

(g)     To delegate authority to the Convener to make representations to Scottish Government requesting that consideration be given to the effect growth would have on infrastructure and the requirement for transport interventions which would resolve transport impacts.

There had been circulated copies of a report by the SESplan Planner presenting the finalised 2016 Annual Housing Update together with an Easy Read Guide for consideration and approval.    Ms McMenemy highlighted that the the five year delivery programme for the effective supply of housing was below target.  However, there was enough effective housing land for at least 15 years in all council areas.   The Joint Committee discussed that there was no definitive guidance by Scottish Government on the methodology to be used for calculating housing land.  It was therefore agreed that other methods for calculating effective housing land were equally valid. 

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)       To approve the summary and content of the finalised 2016 Annual Housing Update and Easy Read Guide, attached as Appendix 1 and 2 to the report; and

(b)       To note that in determining effective housing land other calculations might be acceptable and that these different methods would result in different figures to those detailed in table 6 of the report.

Unaudited Accounts 2016/2017 for SESplan Joint Committee’s consideration. The Convener advised that there had been increased savings since the March meeting.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     To note the SESplan Unaudited Accounts 2016/2017 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(b)     To hereby give 14 days’ notice that the Unaudited Accounts 2016/17  would be made available on the SESplan website from 14 July 2017 for a 30 day period.

There had been circulated a report by the Acting SDP Manager presenting the 2016/2017 SESplan Planning Performance Framework and Annual Report (PPF) to the Joint Committee for noting.

DECISION

AGREED to note the Planning Performance Framework and Annual Report attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

It was noted that SESplan’s Unaudited Accounts required to be approved by 30 September 2017 which had implications for the timetable.  There was also an issue with the availability of Members for future meetings   It was agreed to delegate to officers to liaise and rearrange future meeting dates for the SESplan Joint Committee.

DECISION

AGREED to request that the Acting SDP Manager liaise with officers to reschedule dates for future SESplan meetings.