Agenda item - Chair's Communications

53.1      The Chair stated: The most significant piece of news to emerge over the last month, ignoring the ongoing game of musical chairs being played at Downing Street, is Council’s agreement to pass City Plan Part 2.

            The ramifications of this are huge. Among other things, it allows this committee greater powers in determining whether the applications before us represent developments which are in the best interests of the city, now and into the future.

            One thing that many members of the public find surprising, and that includes most newly elected Councillors, is how little power Local Planning Authorities have to actually carry out local planning. As with all matters of Government, decision-making powers are heavily weighted in the favour of central Government. We live in the country with the most centralised Government powers of any country in Europe.

            City Plan Part 2 does something to shift that balance in the direction of local democracy.

            In practical terms, City Plan Part 2 means that local policies have full force. We will now be able to:

·       Raise the quality and affordability of new homes

·       Support the local economy

·       Ensure developers engage with providers of the city’s essential infrastructure

·       Move towards carbon neutrality

·       Ensure developments leave biodiversity in a measurably better state than it was before the development took place

·       And protect our historic properties.

Brighton and Hove needs to keep developing. We’re a vibrant city, we can’t sit still. However, now we can take a little more control in order to ensure that what is developed is the sort of development we need and doesn’t come at a cost of our existing built or natural environment.

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.