(i)

this was the 5^th Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) and Plymouth remained the most successful authority in the country for preparing its Local Development Framework (LDF);

(ii)

the AMR 2009 covered development activity undertaken in the period of time between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009;

(iii)

the AMR 2009 highlighted that 90% of targets were on target, and for those that were not there were corrective actions that had been put in place;

(iv)

Plymouth was one of only 13% of Local Planning Authorities that had delivered an adopted Core Strategy and had more Area Action Plans adopted than any other authority.

(v)

the AMR 2009 report was submitted in order for the Growth and Prosperity Panel to be informed of the status of current targets;

(vi)

scrutiny should focus upon the degree of success of each core strategy target and Members should analyse whether corrective action put in place was adequate and if specific areas of the AMR 2009 report needed to be scrutinised in more detail;

(vii)

Core Strategy Target 9.1, namely ‘Delivery of new primary schools in Barne Barton, Devonport, Millbay, Southway and Plymstock and the Whitleigh campus, by 2008-2016’ was still ongoing and on track; the accuracy of the project status relating to Devonport School needed to be looked at;

(viii)

Core Strategy Target 10.4, namely ‘20% of new dwellings developed to be Lifetime Homes standard (equating to 3,450 home by 2021)’ was below target but improving performance and the report set out measures put in place to help deliver the target;

(ix)

Core Strategy Target 11.1, namely ‘To work towards ensuring that the city’s population have access to a natural greenscape within 400 metres of their home’ was on track; there were currently two major park proposals in the North and East sectors of the city;

(x)

Affordable Homes were dependent upon household income and house prices whereas Lifetime Homes would incorporate a series of design standards in order make the building more adaptable with age;

(xi)

work on  the Sustainable Neighbourhood Development Plan Document was progressing;

(xi)

the amalgamation of Langage Junior and Primary schools as well as schools in Tamerton Vale and Southway was part of a programme to reduce the number of surplus pupil places; it was understood pupil places was dependent upon housing developments in certain areas, and this issue would be addressed;

(xiii)

results from the equality survey did not add up to 100% due to non response to certain questions;

(xiv)

vacancy rates for the remaining city centre prime frontage area went up from 3% to 7%; this reflected the fact that there were currently policies in place to encourage smaller shopping parades, however this policy needed to be looked at in order to address concerns regarding the impact of the recession upon retail units. Issues of long term vacancy in specific centres would be addressed in any review of retail policy;

(xv)

a market recovery action plan brought forward 10 sites for development to the value of £133 million and work on two of those ten sites had commenced;

(xvi)

Core Strategy Target 10.2, namely ‘at least 30% of new dwellings on qualifying sites to be affordable’ was on track and officers were confident that affordable housing could be met;

(xvii)

officers would check whether any section 106 money had to be repaid to developers due to case law timescales;

(1)

note that the process for preparing LDF documents will change in response to revisions to government legislation and guidance on this matter;

(2)

note the current position reported in the Annual Monitoring Report in relation to contextual indicators, core output indicators and significant effect indicators;

(3)

note that the 2009 Annual Monitoring Report provides a commentary on whether or not the LDF Core Strategy Targets are on track to deliver the plan’s key strategic objectives;

(4)

instruct officers to take appropriate action to address the issues arising in relation to those indicators which are currently not on target but which can be addressed through the planning application process, namely Lifetime Homes and Renewable Energy Production;

(5)

request further clarification from officers regarding Core Strategy 9.1 and the status of Devonport Primary School;

(6)

request a response regarding concerns about the provision of community infrastructure in areas of the city where additional housing development is planned.