Issue - items at meetings - Nature Conservation and Development Supplementary Planning Document

Report of the Director of Environment (copy attached).

(1)         That the Cabinet Member notes the results of the public consultation exercise and endorses the changes made to the Nature Conservation and Development SPD.

(2)         That the Nature Conservation and Development SPD be adopted as part of the Local Development Framework, subject to any minor grammatical and non-material text and illustrative alterations agreed by the Director of Environment in  consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.

(3)         That the Nature Conservation and Development SPD takes effect on 1 April 2010.

110.1          The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Environment concerning the results of consultation undertaken on the draft Nature Conservation and Development Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and seeking approval of the changes made adoption of the SPD.

110.2          The Cabinet Member advised that the SPD represented a further demonstration of the city’s commitment to nature conservation. The aim of the document was to provide clear guidance on securing nature conservation improvements as part of new developments. Following supportive comments received from key stakeholders, minor changes had been made to Annex 3 (the Biodiversity Checklist) and Annex 6 (Calculating Developer Contributions) to make them simpler and quicker to use, but the text of the SPD itself remained largely unchanged.

110.3          Councillor Kennedy praised the council’s Ecologist for producing the SPD, which represented an innovative approach to nature conservation. She stated that it would provide Members and officers with clear guidance on biodiversity issues and she hoped other local authorities would learn from Brighton & Hove.

110.4          Councillor Mitchell echoed Councillor Kennedy’s comments and added that the SPD would compliment the council’s biodiversity plans.

110.5          The Assistant Director City Planner reported that Brighton & Hove was the first local authority to introduce such an SPD. He advised that while sometimes being first may be seen by some developers as imposing an additional burden, the council took its responsibility to work with developers and make the SPD easy to use very seriously. He added that the section relating to developer contributions would be suspended in order that the Section 106 burden was not increased at the current time.

110.6          RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendation:

(1)         That the results of the public consultation exercise be noted and the changes made to the Nature Conservation and Development SPD be endorsed.

(2)         That the Nature Conservation and Development SPD be adopted as part of the Local Development Framework, subject to any minor grammatical and non-material text and illustrative alterations agreed by the Director of Environment in  consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.

(3)         That the Nature Conservation and Development SPD take effect on 1 April 2010.