The Chair to ask if any Member present is substituting for another Member and, if so, to declare their name as substitute Member and the name of the absent Member.

There were no apologies for absence.

It was noted that Councillor Pearce was present remotely as substitute for the vacant seat on the Committee.

To receive any disclosures by Members of disclosable pecuniary interests / other registerable interests / non-registerable interests in matters on the agenda and the nature of any interest and details of any dispensations obtained.  Members are reminded of the need to repeat their declaration immediately prior to the commencement of the item in question.

Declarations of interest were made by Councillors in the Minutes as indicated below:

Maynard          Agenda Item 4 – Other Registerable Interest as an Executive Member of East Sussex County Council.

There were no dispensations noted.

Members received the report of the Planning Policy Manager, the Rother Draft Local Plan Regulation 18 document and the Rother Local Development Scheme, ahead of their formal consideration by Cabinet on 4 March 2024. The new Rother Local Plan would be the spatial development plan that would set the strategic policies for the distribution and development of residential uses, employment and supporting infrastructure across the district. It would also be a key delivery tool for the objectives set in the Rother Corporate Plan.

The consultation version of the new Local Plan, attached at Appendix A to the report, was based around two overall priorities – Green to the Core and Live Well Locally. It set out a proposed Development Strategy and included a suite of proposed planning policies which would be used in the determination of planning applications. The consultation version would progress to Regulation 18 consultation for a 12-week period, in accordance with all legal and national policy requirements.

An up-to-date Local Plan for the district should have been in place to provide a vision for the future and address housing needs and other economic, social and environmental policies. The Council’s current Core Strategy Local Plan was more than five years old, having been adopted in September 2014. The Council had committed to reviewing the Local Plan, to ensure a sufficient, continuous supply of housing land in July 2018, however, it had prioritised the completion of the Development and Site Allocations (DaSA) Plan and the production of Neighbourhood Plans. The DaSA was adopted in December 2019, by which time five Neighbourhood Plans had been made (adopted), two further plans had since been made and another was subject to a referendum in February 2024.

An Early Engagement Document was published in April 2021, outlining the Council’s approach to how it would develop its new Local Plan. The adopted policies of the Core Strategy and the DaSA were reviewed; this review and compliance check set out that the policies required updating. The review also helped to identify the key issues that needed to be addressed in the new Local Plan.

An evidence base was also scoped as part of the Early Engagement Document and a significant number of documents, studies and reports had been completed to inform the new Local Plan’s proposed development strategy and policies; these were detailed within the report.

The policy team had adopted an open and inclusive approach, liaising in different ways, including Call for Sites (2020-2024), meetings with neighbouring local planning authorities, East Sussex County Council (ESCC) Highways, statutory and non-statutory stakeholders, parish and town councils, internal cross-department officer working groups and a cross-party Councillor steering group.

The Planning Policy Manager outlined for Members the background to the Plan, its format in two parts, being the proposed policies and development plan and finally the next steps, all as detailed in the report.

There was a legal and national policy requirement to review the Plan and update where necessary, as well as a Council commitment to do  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC23/49.