The Group Manager Development reported on the findings of the Local Development Plan 2017 Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) and sought approval that the Development Control Committee takes on the role of the LDP Steering Group. 

The Group Manager Development informed Members that the report is the 3rd such report that has been produced since the LDP was adopted in 2013.  He stated that the LDP is one of the high level strategies which must be prepared by the Council which sets out in land use terms the Council’s priorities but also must be in conformity with national policy and regulations.  The plan is evidence based and involves considerable consultation and independent scrutiny.  The Council has a statutory duty to keep all matters under review that are expected to affect development within its area and Section 76 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires these matters be expressed in the form of an Annual Monitoring Report for submission to Welsh Government.  He informed Council that the AMR is essentially a ‘Health Check’ of the LDP, determining how effective it has been in meeting the objectives of the plan and whether the development strategy that underpins the plan remains valid.  The AMR also considers how contextual changes, such as the state of the economy and national and regional influences and changes to legislation may also have influenced the success or validity of the Plan.  He highlighted some of the ‘key findings’ from the 2017 data analysis for the period 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017 are:-

•             4978 new dwellings have been completed during the plan period up to 2017 – 1150 have been affordable.

•             The Council has a housing land supply assessed against the housing requirement of the LDP of 4.0 years, which is below the 5 year minimum requirement.

•             During the monitoring period 1.4 hectares of vacant employment land was developed, which is substantially below the LDP’s proposed take up of 6.3 hectares per annum.

•             In determining how successful the LDPs Regeneration-Led Spatial development strategy has been, the LDP identifies 4 Strategic Growth areas at Bridgend, the Valleys Gateway, Maesteg and Porthcawl. Monitoring of implementation of housing and employment allocations shows that the Bridgend and Valleys Gateways strategy areas have been very successful in terms of delivery but that Maesteg and Porthcawl Growth Areas have underperformed.  This underperformance is largely attributed to issues of viability in Maesteg and land ownership issues in Porthcawl where the wider Porthcawl Waterfront Regeneration Area has failed to deliver the anticipated levels of growth. 

•             Vacancy Rates within our town centres are 17.7% in Bridgend, 4.9% in Porthcawl and 6.0% in Maesteg.  In this context Bridgend Town Centre Vacancy Rate is higher than the LDP target of 15%.

•             In terms of monitoring the need to provide a permanent or transit Gypsy and Traveller Site this has been determined by updated evidence contained in the recent Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Survey.  The survey shows that there is no requirement up to 2021 and a requirement for 1 additional pitch up to 2031.

•             The County Borough is making a significant contribution to national renewable energy targets.  The generating capacity within and immediately adjacent the refined SSA (north of Evanstown and the Ogmore Valley) is 65MW, which is considerably higher than the estimated capacity of the SSA of 31MW.

The Group Manager highlighted the key conclusions from this year’s Annual Monitoring Report, that plan policies are generally being met with the Plan moving towards its targets and that the LDPs Development Strategy remains fundamentally sound.  However, the Local Planning Authority acknowledges that it must progress with a Review, given that there is a statutory obligation to undertake a full review 4 years after adoption and an imperative to address the shortfall in housing land supply.

He stated that the recommendations of the AMR are that Bridgend Local Planning Authority commences a statutory Review of the LDP in early 2018 and in order to facilitate the review, the Development Control Committee takes on the role of LDP Steering Group, whose function will be to scrutinise the key stages of plan preparation and evidence gathering and make future recommendations to Council. 

The Group Manager Development reported that the next stage of Plan review requires the preparation of a detailed ‘Review Report’ that will be reported to Development Control Committee and Council.  The Review Report will set out clearly what has been considered, which key stakeholders have been engaged and, where changes are required, what needs to change and why.

The Group Manager Development reported on a proposal that the Development Control Committee takes on the role of LDP Steering Group, to oversee the review of the Local Development Plan from start to completion.

A Member of Council questioned the impact of the northern employment hub on the LDP.  The Group Manager Development stated that the development of the hub will be taken into account as part of the evidence which would inform the LDP.

Members of Council questioned why vacancies to commercial properties in Pencoed town centre did not feature amongst the key findings of the AMR.  The Group Manager Development informed Council that Bridgend was included in the AMR for monitoring purposes as it is a ‘sub regional centre’ and Maesteg and Porthcawl are classed as ‘town centres’   Pencoed does not fall within this category as it is a ‘district centre’ and is not subject to the same level of monitoring.  Members also expressed concern that the vacancy rates of commercial properties was above the target in Bridgend although Maesteg and Porthcawl town centres were exceeding targets.  The Group Manager Development commented that it was disappointing the vacancy targets in Bridgend had not been met, although the rates are only slightly below target there were signs of a marginal improvement over last year.  He stated that the scope of the LDP review could be widened to look at town centre boundaries and to have a more realistic delivery of targets for commercial property vacancies. 

Members also requested that the review fully utilises current industrial sites.  The Group Manager Development stated that the LDP process will see a considerable amount of engagement and efforts would be made to ensure that industrial sites are occupied. 

A Member of Council referred to the lowering of the percentage to provide affordable housing in the current LDP and asked whether this would be increased as part of the review.  The Group Manager Development stated that this was again based on evidence and that the LDP had to be deliverable.  He stated that commercial housebuilders have an input to the Joint Housing Land Availability Study and that the County Borough has a housing requirement of 4 years in the current LDP, which had recently dipped below 5 years.  The housebuilders will also be engaged as part of the LDP review, He also stated that the affordable housing requirement may affect the deliverability of some sites.  Any new LDP will be subject to external examination conducted by an independent Planning Inspector and the plan would need to demonstrate deliverability before approval by Welsh Government.  Members expressed concern at the lack of 1 bedroom properties in the County Borough.

A Member of Council commented on the need for engagement to take place with primary health care providers in order to improve community health facilities as part of the theme of social progress which recognises the needs of everyone.  The Group Manager Development confirmed that engagement will take place with primary health care providers which will be a key element in preparing the new plan.

The Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration commented that school places would also need to be reviewed as part of the process.  The Group Manager Development confirmed that the supply of school places would have to be reviewed in addition to housing development.  He highlighted the importance of providing the right infrastructure in order to support new housing developments. 

A Member of Council commented on the importance of having vibrant and diverse town centres and it appeared that Pencoed had been missed out from the review process.  The Group Manager Development informed Council that Pencoed had not been missed out from the process and is indentifed within the LDP as a District Centre along with other areas including Kenfig Hill, Aberkenfing and Pyle.  He also informed Council that all parts of the Council will be part of the LDP review process.     

RESOLVED:                 That Council:

(1)  Noted the content of the AMR;

(2)  Agreed that the Development Control Committee takes on the role of the LDP Steering Group to assist in the production and replacement of the Bridgend Local Development Plan.