Report No. 234/201 was received from the Chief Executive.

Mr Oliver Hemsley, Leader of the Council, introduced the report, the purpose of which was for Cabinet to review the evolving Master Plan for the St George’s Site and the associated HIF Business Case and assess whether it should be recommended to Council for approval.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         Rutland was growing and needed to continue to grow and prosper.

·         Comprehensive consultation had taken place to make sure that the plan was sound and that it would retain the unique nature of our villages

·         In order to avoid retrofitting infrastructure, investment in infrastructure would be made right from the beginning.

·         The bid would enable £95 million of funding for infrastructure the benefits of which would be seen right across the County.

·         The bid submission did not commit the Council to anything further.

·         In a response to comments submitted in writing by Ms G Waller, Ward Member for Normanton which included the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham, Mr R Stone, Head of Estates at the MoD confirmed that although compulsory purchases couldsometimes take longer than a year, 2.5 years had been allowed within the timeline and therefore delivery of the project would not be affected.

·         The level of financial detail would increase and improve as the project moved forward. An experienced development company would be brought onboard which would be able to supply more details on the design works and the viability assessment needed for a planning application.

·         The project’s inclusion in the Local Plan in the early part of 2019 would require a level of information in order to produce a detailed viability study.

·         The MoD would be happy to share with Cabinet information that they had had to date although some would be exempt to the public as it was commercially sensitive. Mrs H Briggs would liaise with the MoD regarding the provision of these papers.

·         The Head of Estates at the MoD reassured Councillors that they were already working closely with the design team to ensure that the project would deliver something much more akin to the layout of a Rutland village rather than another generic housing estate, especially as that was what would generate the value from the site.

·         If successful in its bid, funding from the Garden Communities Fund would allow the Council to set the standards for the development very early on in the process. As part of its submission, the Council requested funding to design an exemplar community in terms of health benefits and encouraging community engagement and had support from Lord Matthew Taylor, a housing policy expert on the design of garden villages.

·         An extra Council meeting would be scheduled in addition to Annual Council in May to hear the Regulation 19 Report. New members would be fully briefed on the matter.

·         The Masterplan included provision for a Health and Wellbeing Centre and consultation with GPs and the CCGs had already taken place. The HIF business case and the Garden Communities bid included letters of support from the CCGs which acknowledged the existing pressures in primary care in Rutland.

·         Health and wellbeing would be designed into the scheme as a whole with paths and cycling routes to encourage exercise and to help reduce pressure on primary care. This health and wellbeing approach would hopefully appeal to growing families and help to attract a younger demographic to the County.

·         There would be an on-going evaluation of healthcare and social provision for the development.

·         The indicative splits given for the 665 affordable homes was based on Council projections of housing needs. If going forward these projections changed and they showed an increase in the need for 4/5 beds homes for example, this would be addressed.

·         The Larger homes referred to in paragraph 3.5, Table 1 of the report referred to plot size and not the number of bedrooms.

·         Councillors expressed their hope that the delivery of 30% of affordable homes would further encourage a younger demographic to the County.

·         The three form primary school proposed was based partly on national standards and supplemented by local knowledge, taking into account housing mix and the existing population.

·         Building a new school would present an exciting opportunity to address the problem of lack of space which existed in many of Rutland primary schools.  Built into the design would be drop-off points, parking and extra space for expansion so wraparound care including nursery provision could be provided.

Before voting on the recommendations of the report, Mr G Brown brought to Cabinet’s attention a summary of the Public’s response to the Local Plan consultation. A further pre-submission consultation would take place in early 2019.

805 responses to the Local Plan were received. Some of the comments many of which had been addressed in the evolving Master Plan included:

-       A desire by some not to have any development whatsoever.

-       The view that the area was a greenfield site despite the legal designation.

-       Concern over hedgerows and wildlife

-       Concern over sewerage and Rutland water

-       Concern that shops in Oakham and Uppingham would be affected

-       Comment that minerals were not required (It was noted that Rutland was a mineral authority and there was a duty on the Council to ensure mineral planning was done in line with the law).

-       Concern over the lack of public transport

-       Desire for more renewable energy

DECISIONS:

Cabinet unanimously agreed that, subject to amendments based on discussions held at the meeting that they would

1.    NOTE;

         i.        the indicative timeline for the St George’s project at Appendix 4; and

       ii.        that a monthly progress report will continue to be provided to Cabinet on the progress of the evolving master plan and the HIF business case highlighting any significant changes.

2.     RECOMMEND to Council;

i.         The approval of the submission of a business case for Forward Funding under the Housing Infrastructure programme based on the evolving master plan (Appendix 1)

Reasons for the decision

The current evolution of the master plan for St George’s is based on the optimal number of homes to create a new sustainable community with appropriate infrastructure and mitigation against the impact of development. It represents a plan for the site with appropriate infrastructure.

The HIF submission will ensure that funding is available to support delivery of appropriate infrastructure but most importantly will ensure infrastructure is delivered at the beginning of the development and in some instances in advance of any house building. Most notably the highways improvements.

In recognition that the St George’s site is a redundant brownfield site and that MOD have a duty to maximise the site potential (in this instance through housing), the evolving master plan and HIF submission represent an opportunity to ensure that the St George’s site is delivered in a way that delivers a new sustainable community that is right for Rutland as a County.

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The leader called a short adjournment of the meeting.

Representatives from the Ministry of Defence and ReGenco left the meeting.

Mr G. Brown left the meeting.

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