Meeting Details

The minutes of the meetings held on 7 May 2025 and 21 May 2025 were confirmed as a correct record. 

Norma Dinnie-Weall addressed the Committee pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 5(1) to request the inclusion of her local area in the list of Local Wildlife Sites. Data from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee demonstrated the decline in farmland and woodland birds in recent years.  She was familiar with the paths in the area between Bullock Wood, Shaw’s Farm, Salary Brook and Welshwood Nature Reserve. This area had avoided the urbanisation of other areas of Colchester and a diverse range of birds and other wildlife such as bats and dragonflies could be seen there. Apex predators such as buzzards, kestrels and kites could regularly be seen over the area, which was an indicator of a balanced ecosystem. Wide strips of wildflowers had been planted in the fields adjacent to Bullock Wood, which had encouraged more insects which supported the entire food chain. Taxpayers’ money used to develop biodiversity in the area would be wasted if the area was developed.  Breaking up the corridors that enable wildlife to travel between the sites would also be very detrimental to wildlife. Many residents used the paths, which encouraged social interactions, exercise and the chance to appreciate nature, all of which benefited residents physical and mental health.  By contrast, large, high density housing estates could be isolating and urban sprawl could destroy any sense of community. 

Sandra Scott, Place Strategy Manager, responded and explained that in the event that the areas she referred to progressed through the Local Plan process then all of the factors she had described would be taken into consideration.

Melina Spantidaki addressed the Committee pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 5(1) to express concerns about how plans she had submitted for Holy Trinity Church had been handled.  The bid she had submitted combined the preservation of heritage with community use, unlike the successful bid which was based on café and retail use. There was no link between this use and the historic heritage of the building. Confirmation was sought as to which was the correct Committee to review the decision about the bid.

Richard Clifford, Democratic Services Manager, responded and explained that the decision taken about the bid was an executive decision taken by the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet would be the appropriate body to address her concerns.  However it was understood that a Code of Conduct complaint had also been raised about these matters and it would not be appropriate for the Council to comment further whilst that complaint was considered and determined. 

The Committee considered a report from the Place Strategy Manager setting out progress on the Local Plan. 

Sandra Scott, Place Strategy Manager, introduced the report and highlighted that the additional work that had been requested for the Local Plan was progressing well, with initial draft reports on transport and infrastructure commissioned.  These would be reviewed by officers over the next few weeks. The recent announcement by the government to cancel the improvements to the A12 was very disappointing.  However transport modelling work had included this scenario.  Essex County Council Highways and National Highways had been invited to attend this meeting to help the Committee but neither had been able to do so. The report set out further advice from Essex County Council on this issue.  They remained committed to working in partnership with the Council on this matter.  National Highways remained engaged on transport issues and would continue to comment and input to the Local Plan process.

In terms of infrastructure, the report set out progress on the Infrastructure Audit/Delivery Plan. Most key infrastructure providers had provided updates to the consultants. Where costs had not been provided, the consultant’s costs team would provide data to fill the gap, using nationally recognised benchmarking, which was a widely accepted approach. On viability, consultants were updating the benchmark land values and would be carrying out high level testing of the strategic sites over the summer.  It was anticipated that progress on viability would be in line with the scheduled programme.  In respect of other evidence the Water Cycle Study had now been finalised and would be published on the Local Plan website shortly.  The Local Wildlife Sites partial review was drafted and local wildlife organisations were being consulted.  A final report would be issued in due course   This would include the further survey work regarding potential extensions that had been recommended by the ecologists on a number of local wildlife sites.  Work had also commenced on the next phase of the Heritage Impact Assessment.  The final invertebrates survey on Middlewick was completed in May and the final report was due imminently.  Local Plan members, Natural England and other interested parties would be notified when it was published. 

Officers continued to prepare a range of Topic Papers on issues relevant to the Local Plan.  Topic Papers on Employment, Net Zero and Environment had recently been published and a Topic Paper on Water would be published alongside the Water Cycle Study and further papers would be published over the coming months. 

The Housing Position Statement would be published shortly, which should demonstrate  that the Council had a five year land supply. However, it needed to be recognised that in February 2026 this will need to be based on a higher figure based on the Standard Methodology and that it was likely that the Council would move into a deficit on Housing Land Supply. 

An application had been made in October 2024 to designate 25 parish areas as Designated Rural Areas.  The application had been approved in May and would help facilitate the delivery of affordable in these areas.

In discussion members of the Committee sought clarification on the criteria for the sites selected as Local Wildlife Sites and how other sites could be designated, as it appeared that some sites that were rich in wildlife had not been included.  Shelley Blackaby, Principal Planning Policy Officer, explained that the Council had commissioned a partial Local Wildlife Sites review which had been carried out by ecology consultants.  In view of the number of sites, it was not possible for them to review them all, so they looked at existing Local Wildlife Sites within 50 metres of proposed allocations. A report was prepared on these sites and officers undertook a technical consultation with Essex Wildlife Trust and Colchester Natural History Society, who had suggested some additional sites be designated. The consultants had recommended that eight of the Local Wildlife Sites may be suitable for extension.  This required further survey work which would take place in September. A biodiversity assessment had also been commissioned, one element of which was to assess all sites which were put forward as part of the call for sites and passed the first selection round.  This would have included the site raised by the Have Your Say speaker. 

Clarification was sought on the reasoning for the selection of 50 metres from an allocated site, as the impact of development from a site on wildlife would reach beyond 50 metres.  The Principal Planning Policy Officer explained that the 50 metres limit had been recommended by the consultants that conducted the review. They were experienced consultants who had undertaken similar work for other authorities. Essex County Council had set the criteria for the designation of Local Wildlife Sites. 
In response to questions from members about the reporting of transport modelling following the decision on the A12, it was confirmed that there would be a briefing for members ahead of the meeting in November when the draft Local Plan would be considered further. There would not be an interim report ahead of the full report to be submitted to that meeting.

It was highlighted that there were two sets of Topic Papers on the website and it would reduce confusion if these were dated and collated. Officers undertook to do so and to ensure it was clear which Local Plan each Topic Paper related to.  It was also suggested that Topic Papers could help focus on key local issues that were sometimes missed in consideration of national issues. For example, it was suggested that the papers on Net Zero could address issues such as a presumption in favour of farm reservoirs and the increase in wildfire risks. Whilst the Environment Topic Paper had a great description of the local environment, it did not highlight that north east Essex had more islands than any other area in England, with five in the City Council area. Consideration should be given to a planning policy on Islands. In terms of wildfire risk it was suggested that planning policy could look at issues of evacuation, particularly in areas such as Mersea where this could be challenging. In terms of Islands, it could look at biodiversity and habitat, which was generally consistent across a whole island, and it would be useful to set out in policy the percentage of land that might be developed on an island. 
The Joint Head of Planning explained that Topic Papers did not specify policies. Their purpose was to bring together information on single topics in a manageable and readable format. Planning policies were set out in the Local Plan and when the draft Plan went out for consultation, new policies could be suggested.  Some of the issues identified were covered by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and more local coastal policies. 

It was confirmed that the Topic Papers still to be published were:-
• Water
• Transport
• Infrastructure
• Retail/Town Centres
• Healthy Places
• Spatial Strategy and Site Allocations

A member of the Committee asked how the Council would go beyond the obligations in the NPPF in respect of heritage and ensure policies were in place for the protection of archaeological and heritage assets. The Place Strategy Manager explained that this would be done through the evidence base of the Local Plan. 

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.