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Decision Maker: Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control, and Infrastructure
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
To approve the draft SPD for public consultation.
Matter for
Decision
To consider the draft Cambridgeshire Flood and
Water (SPD), which would sit alongside the Cambridge Local Plan 2014 once
adopted.
Decision
of Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport
i.
Agreed the content of the draft Cambridgeshire
Flood and Water SPD (Appendix A of the Officer’s report).
ii.
Agreed that if any amendments were necessary, these
should be agreed by the Executive Councillor in consultation with Chair and
Spokes of Development Plan Scrutiny Sub Committee.
iii.
Agreed for the draft Cambridgeshire Flood and Water
SPD to be subject to public consultation for 6 weeks in September – October
2015.
Reason for the Decision
As set out in the Officer’s report.
Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
Not applicable.
Scrutiny
Considerations
The Committee received a report from the Senior Sustainability
Officer (Design and Construction), Environment.
The report referred to SPD which had been produced in order to support the
implementation of flooding and water related policies across all of the
Cambridgeshire local planning authorities.
For Cambridge, the SPD supported policies 31 (integrated water
management and the water cycle) and 32 (flood risk) of the submission version
Cambridge Local Plan 2014. It provided detailed guidance on the steps that
developers should undertake to ensure that developments were not at risk of
flooding or increased the risk of flooding elsewhere.
On its adoption, the Cambridgeshire
Flood and Water SPD would have the status of a material consideration when
determining planning applications. As
the draft SPD had been written to support the Cambridge Local Plan 2014, which
was still currently being examined by the Secretary of State, the SPD would be
adopted at the same time as, or shortly after, the Local Plan had been
adopted. It would not be adopted for use
in Cambridge before the Local Plan was adopted.
Comments
from the Sub-Committee
i.
Sought clarification regarding the long term management
and maintenance of the swales and water courses to ensure that they would not
be neglected.
ii.
Asked if the Council had undertaken an audit of
the City’s various drains and culverts.
iii.
Queried why the consultation did not take place
at the same time as the consultation on the Local Plan.
iv.
Enquired if the SPD extended to water features
for cultural and aesthetic usage
Officers stated the following
i.
As an example, the City Council had adopted some
sustainable drainage systems in public open spaces providing that they were
designed in accordance with the design and adoption guide.
ii.
New requirements had been put into place in
April 2015, requiring all major developments to utilise sustainable drainage
systems. One of the key components of the adoption guide was to ensure that
long term maintenance of those features were in place. All future applications
should include the maintenance of those features, with consideration to cost
and who would be responsible for the upkeep. It could be for the Council to adopt,
maintenance companies approved by the developers or in some cases the
responsible water authority.
iii.
The
Council was responsible for maintaining Hobson’s Conduit and the runnels on Trumpington Street. Both of which were maintained on a
regular basis but were problematic due to the crossings which regularly
collected a large amount of rubbish. Such issues could be learnt from, with
developers moving forward to design systems that could easily be maintained and
functioned robustly.
iv.
The City Council was currently working with the
County Council to set up an asset database for significant flood risks across
the City in accordance with the Public Water Management Act 2010. This would
help to define the owner and their responsibilities across the City.
v.
The SPD had been developed in conjunction with
each of the Cambridgeshire local planning authorities who were at different
stages of producing their Local Plans. The SPD would be adopted after the Local
Plan had been adopted. This was not uncommon for SPD’s.
vi.
Chapter 6 of the SPD (stainable drainage
features) would allow scope for formal water features. There would be
discussions with developers at the pre application stage on this matter to
incorporate features rather than hide them away.
vii.
Work would be undertaken on the public realm
strategy which would give the opportunity to incorporate water features into
the public realm which would be overseen by the Development Plan Scrutiny Sub
Committee.
The Committee resolved
unanimously to endorse the recommendations.
The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.
Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any
Dispensations Granted)
No conflicts of interest
were declared by the Executive Councillor.
Publication date: 08/04/2016
Date of decision: 16/06/2015