Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by councillors in accordance with the code of conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 21 November 2012.

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2012.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

The Panel will monitor the progress of previous resolutions and receive any relevant feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

The Chair reported that the Subsidised Bus Routes and Through Ticketing task and finish group report had been considered by Cabinet and received very positive feedback, with the majority of its recommendations having been accepted. 

The Director for Place will provide a verbal update.

The Director for Place updated the panel on progress with the directorate’s restructure.  Members were advised that the restructure, which had commenced over 12 months ago, had been undertaken in order to ensure that the directorate’s service areas reflected changes made to the council’s corporate management team.  With the support of Human Resources, 80 per cent of the restructure was complete and the directorate now comprised the following four service areas –

·         Economic Development

·         Environmental Services

·         Planning Services

·         Transport and Infrastructure

With regard to –

In response to questions raised, members were further informed that –

The Chair welcomed the comprehensive update and commented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

To receive a report outlining the Plan for Jobs.

Councillor Evans, Leader of the Council, David Draffan, Assistant Director for Economic Development and Chris Grace, Head of Economy, Enterprise and Employment, presented a report outlining the Plan for Jobs.  The panel heard –

In response to questions raised, it was further reported that –

The Chair thanked Councillor Evans, David Draffan and Chris Grace for their informative report and attendance.

Agreed that the Plan for Jobs is added to the panel’s work programme in order that regular updates are received, progress against its implementation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

To receive a report on the monitoring and evaluation work that has been undertaken in respect of the East End Transport Scheme (EETS).

Councillor Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, and Juli Wileman, Major Schemes Project Manager, submitted the first of two reports updating members on the monitoring and evaluation work that had been undertaken in respect of the East End Transportation Scheme (EETS) which came into operation in November 2011.  Members heard that some of the data required to evaluate the scheme had not yet been gathered and therefore a second report would be submitted to the panel’s next meeting in May.  In so far as this report was concerned, Members were informed of the changes in traffic flows around the East End and the impact this has had on air quality.  The report concluded that –

·         overall there had been a reduction in traffic travelling through the East End;

·         there had been significant reductions in traffic on Embankment Road and Heles Terrace;

·         there had been significant improvements in air quality along Embankment Road and Heles Terrace;

·         unfortunately, whilst there had been a decline in air quality on some of the roads adjacent to Gdynia Way they still remained within safe limits;

·         there had been an increase in traffic on Florence Place which was probably due to people continuing to use Embankment road rather than Gydnia Way to travel towards Plympton;

·         noise levels along Gdynia Way and Embankment road had reduced due to the new road surface having noise-reducing properties and the introduction of the 30mph speed limit on Gdynia Way.

In response to questions raised, it was further reported that -

The Chair thanked Councillor Coker and Juli Wileman for their attendance and commented that he looked forward to receiving the next panel update in May.

To receive an update report on the On Street Parking Review.

Councillor Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, and Mike Artherton, Parking and CCTV Manager, submitted an update on the ‘On Street Parking Review’.  Members heard that the review had been undertaken in response to growing pressures with on street parking and had been centred around establishing what worked well, what didn’t and where there were opportunities to deliver improvements.

In response to questions raised, Members were advised that -

The Chair thanked Councillor Coker and Mike Artherton for their attendance and encouraged members to engage during the consultation process.

To receive a report on the Street Naming and Numbering process.

Councillor Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, Alex Hurth, Carbon Manager, and Jane Hirons, Senior Property and Terrier Officer, were in attendance to inform members of the correct process and procedures for carrying out the council’s statutory street naming and number function.  Members heard that –

The Chair welcomed the report and thanked Councillor Coker, Alex Hurth and Jane Hirons for their attendance.

To receive a verbal update on Get Plymouth Building.

Councillor Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance, and Paul Barnard, Assistant Director for Planning Services, were in attendance to update the panel on the ‘Get Plymouth Building’ scheme.  Members heard that with regard to each of the eight initiatives –

Stalled Sites

·         there were 96 stalled sites in the city, with planning permission for 5,179 homes;

·         work with developers and agents to fast track reserved matters applications and speedily discharge pre-commencement conditions had so far resulted in developments commencing on a number of sites including 132 units at Notte Street, 130 units at Unity Park, Efford, 85 units at St. Augustine’s, Mutley, and 58 homes at the Vision site in Devonport;

·         discussions had also taken place with landowners and developers with a view to removing barriers to development including reviewing the density of schemes, mix of uses, timing of S106 payments and the constraints associated with utilities;

Lapsed Sites

·         there were 33 lapsed sites across the city with planning permission for 489 dwellings;

·         the council was committed to getting tough on unsightly building sites;

·         the council was open to allowing temporary uses on such sites, if appropriate, whilst new development proposals were being worked up;

·         the three largest lapsed sites in the city were at Colin Campbell Court, Millbay Marina and the former Crescent Cars;

Area Action Plan Sites

·         Plymouth had six adopted Area Action Plans (AAPs) with a seventh (Derriford and Seaton) having just been submitted for examination;

·         all of the proposals identified in the AAPs were being reviewed;

·         detailed pre-application discussions had commenced on a number of sites;

Call for New Sites

·         a disappointing response had been received to the call to bring forward new sites made on 19 November 2012;

·         by working with proactive developers like Plymouth Community Homes, Barratts, Mount Wise (Devon) Limited, Devon and Cornwall Housing, and Redrow over 350 homes had been completed in the city last year with a further 705 dwellings on sites under construction;

·         a further 414 homes were currently at pre-application stage and it was anticipated that these would have planning permission by the end of 2013;

·         the council had approved the largest commercially viable Code 6 zero-carbon housing scheme in Europe at Bickleigh;

Self-Build Sites

·         in the UK only 10 per cent of homes were self-build;

·         the council had been working with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to access over £30 million of funding and five city council owned sites which could provide 22 self-build units had been identified;

·         the council was supporting the Homes for Heroes project as part of its clear commitment to the Military Covenant;

Small Sites

·         this initiative aimed to help smaller developers bring forward housing on sites with planning permission for less than 15 units;

·         in total there were 498 dwellings approved on these sites;

·         the council had been proactively working with agents to unblock any identified blockages on 34 sites with permission for between 3-15 units which, in total, could deliver 315 homes;

·         since this initiative was launched 88  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

To receive a presentation on the Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report 2012.

Paul Barnard, Assistant Director for Planning Services presented for members’ information the Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report 2012.

The Chair thanked Paul Barnard for his attendance and commented that he looked forward to receiving an update on the Plymouth Plan at the next meeting.

To receive for information the minutes of the last meeting of the Growth Board.

Noted the minutes of the Growth Board held on 17 December 2012.

To review the panel’s work programme 2012-2013.

The panel discussed its work programme for 2012/13 and 2013/14.

Agreed that –

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) … of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.