Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration.

The report outlines the applications submitted by Woodford Community Council seeking to establish the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum and Woodford Neighbourhood Area under the provisions of The Localism Act 2011.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to:-

(1) With regard to the designation of the Woodford Neighbourhood Area, comment on which of the following options should be recommended to the Executive for commendation to the full Council Meeting:

(i)         Designate the Area shown on the plan in Appendix D which excludes the SEMMMS road scheme corridor but includes the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site; or

(ii)        Designate the Area shown on the plan in Appendix E which excludes both the SEMMMS road scheme corridor and the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site.

(2) With regard to the designation of the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum, comment on the approval, or otherwise, of the designation of Woodford Neighbourhood Forum as the neighbourhood forum for the Woodford Neighbourhood Area.

Officer contact: Richard Wood on 474 4386 or email: richard.wood@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the applications submitted by Woodford Community Council seeking to establish the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum and Woodford Neighbourhood Area under the provisions of The Localism Act 2011.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development and Regeneration) (Councillor Iain Roberts) attended the meeting to respond to Members’ questions.

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration reported that although the Council had broad discretion as to the area to be designated as a Neighbourhood Area, the Department for Communities and Local Government had advised the Council that the starting point for determining the Neighbourhood Area application should be a presumption in favour of the geographic area as applied for. However, notwithstanding this presumption, the Area Committee was informed that it needed to be mindful of recent case law, with specific regard to R (Daws Hill Neighbourhood Forum) v Wycombe District Council and others [2013] that identified a number of considerations to which it was legitimate to have regard in considering an application for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area, including possible areas of exclusion from the Neighbourhood Area sought to be designated.

It was noted that with regard to the application to establish the Woodford Neighbourhood Area similar considerations to those in the ‘Daws Hill case’ arose in respect of whether two specific parts of the proposed Woodford Neighbourhood Area should be included in the

area that the Council designated, namely:-

•           the corridor of land required for the construction of the proposed SEMMMS road scheme (both the A6 to Manchester Airport and Poynton Bypass elements); and

•           the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site (former BAe Systems site).

In respect of the land required to construct the SEMMMS road scheme, the applicants had indicated that they did not have any issue with the Council determining to exclude the corridor of land required for construction of the SEMMMS road schemes from the Neighbourhood Area if it wished to do so.

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration reported that the applications had also been considered at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee held on 13 September 2013 when it had been:-

‘RESOLVED – (One abstention) That in the light of:-

(i)         the advice received from the Department for Communities and Local Government that the starting point for determining the Neighbourhood Area application should be a presumption in favour of the geographic area as applied for;

(ii)        the strong history of active participation by the Woodford Community Council in helping shape and drive the community of Woodford; and

(iii)       to ensure that any Woodford Neighbourhood Forum had the necessary tools and remit to affect the future of the whole of the community of Woodford;

the Executive be recommended to request that the Council Meeting give approval to:-

(1) The designation of the area shown on the plan attached to the report at Appendix D, which excludes the SEMMMS road scheme corridor but includes the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site, as the Woodford Neighbourhood Area.

(2) The designation of the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum as the neighbourhood forum for the Woodford Neighbourhood Area’.

The comments and recommendations of the Area Committee and the Scrutiny Committee would be forwarded to the Executive as part of its deliberations on the applications at its meeting on 1 October 2013. The Executive would be requested to make its recommendations to the 17 October 2013 Council Meeting which would make the final determination of the applications.

With the consent of the Committee, Mr Stephen Taylor (Woodford Community Council), was invited to address the Committee and, in response to questions from councillors, elaborated on the reasons for wishing to establish the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum. The proposed development on the Woodford Aerodrome Site would have a significant impact on the local community in Woodford and it was felt that the Neighbourhood Forum would assist in the integration of the current village and the new development. The effect on Woodford’s infrastructure and the building of a new medical centre, school and other facilities was another reason for the establishment of a Woodford Neighbourhood Forum. Furthermore, as the proposed development for the Woodford Aerodrome site was likely to be a hybrid application, the establishment of a Woodford Neighbourhood Forum would give it statutory power to influence the phased development in the long term.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

•           A Member felt that the establishment of the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum would raise residents’ expectations as to the influence they would have in the area. Issues such as the establishment of a medical centre would be included in the planning application.

•           Only nineteen responses had been received during the statutory consultation period, although it was acknowledged that there had been significantly greater interest from local residents in the exhibition held last year and subsequent questionnaires which had been distributed by Woodford Community Council.

•           Members enquired as to the process to be followed should the Council Meeting approve the designation of Woodford Neighbourhood Forum as the neighbourhood forum for the Woodford Neighbourhood Area. Ultimately whether or not the Neighbourhood Forum was established would be determined by a referendum of residents and businesses in the area. Members expressed concern that the money allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government would not be enough to cover the cost of the referendum and that the shortfall would have to be met by the Council.

•           Should the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum be established and the designation subsequently withdrawn in the future, there would be no financial repercussions for Stockport Council.

•           Should the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum be established, the decision maker for development applications in Woodford would remain Stockport Council. It was the planning policy process in Woodford which would alter and could over time affect the later stages of the proposed development on the Woodford Aerodrome Site once the policies were adopted.

•           Should the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum be established, the Woodford Neighbourhood Plan would have to conform with the Council’s borough wide policies for the provision of affordable housing.

•           A Member enquired who would monitor whether or not the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum was adhering to its own Constitution.

•           If the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum was established, the Council would subsequently have to determine development applications in line with any planning policies subsequently agreed by the Forum. If the Council refused a development application and the applicant subsequently appealed and was successful, any costs awarded would have to be borne by the Council.

•           A Member expressed concern about planning policies being agreed by people who were not democratically elected.

RESOLVED – That the comments of the Scrutiny Committee be reported to the Executive Meeting on 1 October 2013 for consideration.