Agenda and minutes

Minutes of the Meeting held on 17^th January, 2024. 

The Minutes of the meeting held on 17^th January 2024, were signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There were no Items of Urgent Business.

To receive declarations by Councillors of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Councillors are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Councillors should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Councillors are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no Declarations of Interest.

Report of the Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change.

The Chair welcomed the Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change, to the meeting.

Members of the Committee were provided with the third update report following Lancaster City Council’s Peer Challenge which took place in November 2022. The Committee was reminded that the City Council had requested the Peer Challenge which was co-ordinated by the Local Government Association (LGA), working with the national Planning Advisory Service (PAS).

It was reported that since the previous update provided to the Committee, the Planning Advisory Service had revisited Lancaster in January 2024 to assess the Council’s progress. The feedback was extremely positive with the update reporting that the Development Management team continued to work hard to maintain strong performance and the low levels of backlog of planning applications. It was noted that the action plan that had been developed had highlighted that significant progress had been made across all of the recommendations.

It was agreed that the PAS progress review would be circulated to the Committee.

Members of the Committee thanked the Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change for all the hard work that had been undertaken in improving the Planning Service.

It was agreed that the next update would be provided in August/September 2024.

Resolved :-

(1)        That the Chief Officer be thanked for the update provided.

(2)        That the update be noted.

(3)        That the next update be provided in August/September 2024 and be added to the Committee’s Work Programme.

Work Programme attached.

Members considered the outstanding Work Programme items for the municipal year.

An update on the outstanding items was provided at the meeting. 

With regard to Fly Tipping, it was reported that the draft Fly Tipping Strategy would not be complete in time for the next meeting of the Committee. It was suggested the next meeting could be re-arranged to later in March.

The Committee discussed the Flooding item and it was agreed to request a timeline from Lancashire County Council as to when the report would be complete and when it would be presented to the Committee.

It was noted that the List of Forthcoming Key Decisions included an item on Eden North for consideration by Cabinet.  Therefore, it was further agreed that the Committee would request the Chief Executive to arrange for an update/progress report on the Eden North project for March.

The Committee also requested that a timeline for a report back to the Committee regarding the Stock Condition Survey be provided and added to the Committee’s Work Programme. 

Members were reminded that, in accordance with the Constitution, Councillors and members of the public would be asked to provide items for consideration for the Committee’s Work Programme for the new Municipal Year. 

Resolved :-

(1)   That the date of the next meeting be re-arranged to allow the draft Fly Tipping Strategy to be considered by the Committee.

(2)   That a timeline be requested from Lancashire County Council as to when the Flooding report would be complete and when it would be presented to the Committee.

(3)   That the Committee request the Chief Executive to arrange for an update/progress report on the Eden North project for a meeting date in March.

(4)   That a timeline for a report back to the Committee regarding the Stock Condition Survey be provided and added to the Committee’s Work Programme. 

The List of Forthcoming Key Decisions can be viewed here

It was noted that there were 2 items included on the Forthcoming Key Decisions list to be considered by Cabinet on 20th February 2024, being Lancaster Canal Quarter and Eden Project, Morecambe – Levelling Up Fund Next Steps.