Letter of response to planning concerns raised by Defend Lytham - Conservative Candidates vision.

Mrs Alison Jack
Chairman
Defend Lytham
PO BOX 202
Lytham St Annes
FY8 9AD

Dear Mrs Jack,

Thank you for your recent letter on behalf of Defend Lytham, which raised a broad range of issues of concern to your steering group.

Most of the issues of concern you raise relate to the Council’s role as Local Planning Authority. The first point I have to make is that in this role the actions and decisions of the Council are constrained within a comprehensive legal framework with its foundation in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which has been developed extensively since this time by various governments.

Within this national legislative framework the Council’s current stance (which is one of the strands of your enquiry) is communicated through the extant Development Plan Documents, i.e. the Local Plan, the Lancashire Structure Plan, which are gradually being subsumed into the Local Development Framework (LDF). These are all public documents and can be accessed through the Council’s website and other public library facilities.

These local policy documents are also influenced by a number of regional policy documents sanctioned by the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) – the Regional Spatial Strategy, the Regional Housing Strategy, the Regional Economic Strategy and the Regional Transport Strategy.

You may be interested to know that, subject to the outcome of the local election next week, I am the Lancashire Districts representative on the NWRA Board and Councillor Fiddler is the Lancashire Districts representative on the NWRA Regional Planning Board, so we now have a direct route of influence to the future development of these significant policy documents.

Although planning policy does not change overnight it is a dynamic landscape which responds over a period of time to the social, environmental and economic expectations of our society through a process of public consultation defined within the legislative framework I referred to above. You will appreciate therefore that it is essential for the Council to ensure that its Members, who are delegated to make decisions on planning matters are fully informed and up to date on the relevant policies and processes. We have special rules in our Constitution which require all such Members to undertake a minimum amount of training on these matters.

Before I move on to the seven specific questions raised in your letter I would point out that the role of the Council in balancing the needs and aspirations of our diverse communities is not always straightforward. However, our basic desire is to do the best we can in a changing world for our local communities. Recently we have been convinced of the need to work with other councils on the Fylde coast on a number of strategic issues, such as economic development, tourism, housing and transportation, which affect this area. Our joint approach to these issues will give us even greater influence on the future development of regional strategies on behalf of communities in Fylde.

To address your seven issues:

The continuation of the current housing moratorium is dependent on the position taken by the Secretary of State later this year in confirming or otherwise the relevant content of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The final draft of this document makes provision for increased housing development across the Fylde coast. This Council will need to review its housing policies in response to the RSS when it is confirmed. This process will be subject to public consultation;
We are currently commissioning a piece of work to update the data from the 2003 Fordham Housing Needs Survey. This will be used to inform the review of housing policies referred to above. For information there are at present almost 4000 people waiting to be found suitable housing registered with Fylde’s RSL’s. In the Conservatives 2007 election manifesto there is a pledge to explore means of delivering quality ‘Green’ starter homes as an opportunity for young people to get a step on the housing ladder;
The Grimley’s study, instigated by the Conservative Group, is designed to inform the Council’s long-term approach to the allocation of employment land in the Borough. The second stage of this work is about to be commissioned. The output of this will be used to inform future economic development policies of the Council and the Core Strategy and other Development Plan Documents within the LDF;
The planning principles applied during the creation of the LDF will be based upon current planning policy guidance, local environmental, economic and social issues and the principles of sustainable development. This said, it would be the Conservatives intention to retain as much commercial land as possible with a view to retaining and attracting new jobs to the Fylde;
Community involvement in the planning process is much broader now than at any time in the past. One of the elements of the LDF is a Statement of Community Involvement, which, itself, has been subject to several rounds of public consultation. Another key element of community engagement during 2007/08 will be the review of the Fylde Community Strategy by the Local Strategic Partnership and the development of the Sustainable Communities Strategy. We have ensured better communications with Parish Councils since taking over control of the Council in 2003 and have concentrated on better training for all Councillors to enable residents to have better representation;

Planning applications and appeals are dealt with, necessarily, on an individual basis. The final decision on the process of hearing appeals rests with the Planning Inspectorate, although they will clearly consult with the Local Planning Authority in arriving at their decision. It would be our intention to ensure that where large scale applications are concerned we would push for local hearings where the potential decision of the Councils Development Control Committee was considered to be at odds with that of the local electorate.

The recent outcome of the Aegon and the Wareings (Wrea Green) appeals indicate that it is planning related issues which are important in determining appeals and not the method of consideration of the appeal. However Conservative Councillors need to be in touch with their electorate on contentious planning issues and in future it will be our policy to ensure that we are able to attend meetings with concerned residents when discussing such matters;
The protection of local heritage is important to many local communities. It is often possible to achieve this alongside new developments (within town centres) which are driven by socio-economic factors and aspirations. An important element of control over the ‘proliferation of new pubs and wine bars’ (which you infer in your letter is not wanted) is the manner in which the Council develops and applies its licensing policies. Again, this is a subject on which elected Members making decisions on behalf of the Council are specifically trained and I am sure that every Councillor would have at the heart of their decision, the best possible outcome for the community as a whole.

I hope that this response has gone some way to answering your questions? May I close by saying that in the past four years the Council has come a long way in modernising its internal workings, particularly ensuring that residents have been given an increased role in the decision making processes of the Authority. We now allow Public Questions at full Council meetings, have installed a ‘Community Outlook’ Scrutiny Committee which enables residents to request items of local concern to be investigated by the Council and finally we have expanded the popular Borough wide Listening Day event to include an annual State of the Borough debate.

We are all very privileged to live on the Fylde Coast and it is every Conservative candidates pledge to ensure that the Borough continues to prosper, whilst at the same time protecting its heritage, open spaces and economy, for the benefit of both present and future generations.

By working together, I am sure that we can deliver this pledge.

Yours Sincerely

John L Coombes

Leader, Fylde Conservative Group