Report of Senior Specialist Advisor (Planning).

The committee considered the report of the Senior Specialist Advisor (Planning) which provided a summary of performance in relation to key areas of the Development Management Services for the second quarter (July – September) 2014.

Given the many varied types of planning application received Central Government required that all Councils report the performance in a consistent and coherent manner. Therefore the many varied applications were grouped together into three broad categories Major, Minor and Others.  Applications falling into each category were outlined within the report.

In analysing the performance for the processing of these differing types of application the Government allow 13 weeks for the processing Major applications and 8 weeks for processing the Minor and Other categories.  The figures detailed within the report highlighted the development control performance figures against these categories for the calendar year 2013 and the second quarter of 2014 (July - September).

In addition the report also included information about the recent appeal decisions.  Members were requested to note that any decision made to refuse an application opened the potential for an appeal by the applicant to the Planning Inspectorate.

As members were aware the majority of the applications received were granted planning permission, however for those that were refused and challenged through to an appeal it was considered important to analyse the appeal decisions in order to determine and evaluate whether lessons needed to be learnt, or interpretations needed to be given different weight at the decision making stage.  In addition the evaluation of the appeal decisions would also go some way to indicate the robustness and the correct application of the current and emerging policy context at both a local and national level.

Officers considered that in granting planning permission for 91% of all application received, planning services of Eastbourne Borough Council had supported and stimulated the local economy and had also helped to meet the aspirations of the applicants.  Only where there were substantive material planning considerations was an application refused.

The assessment of the performance of planning services showed that the team were performing at or over the National PI threshold and that there were at this time no special measure issues.  

Notwithstanding this for the first six months of 2014 Eastbourne had one major application going through to an appeal decision and this was overturned resulting in 100% of cases being overturned.

Members had requested further information on the number of refusals issued. This information was highlighted within tables 4 and 5 of the report.  In common with other years the Council refused less than 10% of the applications received

Appendix 1 to the report included further application data by ward and also the number and types of pre-application requests received.

Members had previously requested information relating to live enforcement cases which would keep members informed of the cases and issues that were live in their area and would assist in:-
 

•        Tackling breaches in planning control which would otherwise have an unacceptable impact on the amenity of the area;

•        Maintaining the integrity of the decision-making process;

•        Helping to ensure that the public acceptance of the decision making process is maintained.

It had been a significant period since the previous report on the planning enforcement function, table 11 of the report provided a position statement of the performance for the entire year to date.

Members noted some of the data placed high volumes of enforcement  action in the Devonshire ward, which reflected the focus given by the Difficult Property Group through S215 (Untidy Sites) legislation and also emphasised the support for the ‘Driving Devonshire Forward’ policy document.

The committee thanked the Senior Specialist Advisor (Planning) for providing the detailed enforcement case information and expressed their thanks to the officers for their continued efforts in improving the Planning function and related activities.

NOTED.