Following our report from Illogan last week, this is sadly the latest news from the village:
The Glebe Field, Land at Church Road, Illogan - Set to be destroyed Autumn 2019, for development by Coastline Housing of 33 houses (most officially unaffordable), after a FOUR year battle to save it.
THE PRIVATE DEVELOPERS FORUM
Just to remind everyone this is what a cosy little clique were getting up to before they were rumbled. Minutes of private developers’ forum until they ceased to be published.
Interestingly enough, Councillor Dwelly's wife worked for Cornwall Council at this time and appeared to be heavily involved with the Private Developers’ Forum (potential conflict of interest?).
Private Developers Forum meeting 13th July 2011
Council Chamber, Carrick House, Pydar Street, Truro, TR1 1EB
Minutes
Present:
Chris Towers – Mercian Developments Ltd. Simon Williams – Percy Williams
Marc Salter – Randall Simmonds Jason Mitchell – Robertsons Developments
Andrew Selleck – Selleck Nicholls Ltd. Graham Clark – Sunnybank Homes
Andy Blount – Taylor Lewis Isaac Kibblewhite – Taylor Wimpey
Peter Crawford – Wainhomes John Archer – First Step Homes
Martin Page – First Step Homes Roger Serginson – G P Group
Martin Brimm – Galliford Try Nigel Gilmore – Gilmore Planning Services
Darren Healey – Highgrove Homes Marcel Venn – Inox Group
David Pengelly – Leadbitter David Worrledge – Lowena Homes Ltd.
Tim Bennett – Lowena Homes Ltd. Sean Hall – Mansell Partnership Housing
David Stein – Acorn Property Group Andrew Boon – Aster Group Ltd.
Andrew Wiles – Bibio Andy Rigby – Bibio
Phil Mason – Cornwall Council Steve Havers – Cornwall Council
Tom Flanagan – Cornwall Council Louise Dwelly – Cornwall Council
Adrian Lea – Cornwall Council Andrew O’Brien – Cornwall Council
James Welch – Cornwall Council Peter Marsh – Cornwall Council
Cllr Mark Kaczmarek – Cornwall Council
Morwenna Milburn – Cornwall Council
(minutes)
Apologies:
Greg Oldrieve – Vickery Holman Anthony Eke – Vickery Holman
Clare Salmon – Cornwall Council Robin Squire – Acorn Property Group
1. Introductions and apologies
2. Welcome from the Chair Michael Griffin (Barratts/Chair HBF South West Planning)
Michael Griffin (MG) welcomed everyone to the meeting. He emphasised that the aim was to generate lots of discussion and interaction so questions and contributions were to be encouraged. MG also asked the group to think about what they would like to be discussed in more detail at forthcoming meetings and some of these topics were later discussed and agreed in AOB.
MG explained that Barclays Corporate had been invited to the meeting but had subsequently withdrawn. They wanted to attend the Autumn meeting.
MG began by seeking an informal assessment about the state of the local market. The following contributions were made:
• Some felt it remained very weak but better in the East. • All agreed that the stamp duty threshold changes had made things more difficult and that the downward trend was continuing. • Newquay developers reported good sales and there were also positive responses to market activity in St. Austell and Truro. • Commercial developers reported poor market conditions. a) Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were approved. b) Actions from last meeting –webpage update
MG reminded members about the dedicated secure webpage on the Cornwall Council website that has been set up for the group, and members were encouraged to register to access material on planning and housing and for future meetings. Members simply had to register with the website. James Welch (JW) will send out a reminder email to all members on how to register. Contact JW if there are any problems.
All members need to let James know whether they are happy to have their contact details published on the website for networking purposes.
3. Presentations:
3.1 Lin Cousins of Three Dragons on the Affordable Housing DPD Strategic Viability Appraisal and the engagement process with the private sector
Three Dragons, in collaboration with Opinion Research Services (ORS) have been appointed through the Council’s tendering process to complete a Strategic Viability Appraisal (SVA). This will underpin Core Strategy and Affordable Housing Development Plan Document (DPD) policies on affordable housing and will also help set the CIL charges. The Council are keen to engage with housing delivery partners. This will be done through a sounding board of volunteers from developers, housing associations and agents and through two industry workshops to be held in Truro on the 3rd August.
Lin Cousins introduced the study.
LC emphasised the importance of viability in policy setting and it is clear that under the current Government’s policy position it was if anything likely to grow in importance.
The SVA study was at an early project scoping stage with reviews of data and desktop studies being completed. They were drawing up a set of assumptions and
The SVA study was at an early project scoping stage with reviews of data and desktop studies being completed. They were drawing up a set of assumptions and values which would then be used in site testing. It is important that views on the assumptions and values were sought from the industry at this early stage. Invitations to the workshop on 3rd August will be going out in the next week and more details about the approach and assumptions will be drawn from the workshop. A note will be circulated after the workshop and views will inform the viability testing. By mid-September testing will be completed and some clearer ideas on percentages and thresholds likely to come forward will emerge. There will also be more detailed work on rural housing and some of the Council’s intended rural policies. It is likely that in future HCA grant will only be available for mixed tenure schemes in exceptional circumstances so the testing will be mindful of this.
Questions/Comments
Michael Griffin – stated the importance of private sector representatives to be involved in this piece of work.
Andrew Wiles – It is a bit of a chicken and egg situation with the interaction of the CIL and Affordable Housing policy. These need to fit together in the core strategy and should be tested together at the viability study stage.
Graham Clark – Cornwall should learn the lessons from the Plymouth City Council experience. Their viability advice demonstrated that they couldn’t achieve their CIL and affordable housing requirements but proceeded any way.
3.2 Adrian Lea, Cornwall Council Natural Resources Manager presented ‘Planning for Renewable Energy’
Adrian (AL) outlined the opportunities for Cornwall in increasing its use of renewable energy from a range of sources solar, wind, geothermal and wave and set out some key messages for developers and house builders. The full presentation will be circulated with the minutes.
AL invited members to the Cornwall Renewable Energy Show on 28th – 29th July at the former Gaia Centre, Delabole.
There is increasing interest in these renewable energy technologies and Cornwall Council has organised this event to bring together developers, industry and householders in order to raise awareness of the considerable potential opportunities and benefits available. The first day is aimed at industry and businesses while the second day is aimed at householders and community groups with exhibitors promoting a range of different renewable energy technologies. To register please contact Donna Moore on 01872 224423 or Alison Johnston on 01872 224332.
A website has been set up through Cornwall Development Company to list all the companies in Cornwall who offer sustainable services. This can be found at http://www.cornwallsolardirectory.co.uk/
Questions/Comments
Michael Griffin – It would be good if there could be a more flexible approach to the way developers could invest in energy saving/climate change measures. If developers invested more in renewables, this should be recognised in the requirement and cost of achieving higher levels of code.
Peter Crawford – Who pays for the additional 10 – 15k build costs incurred by the developer to put sustainable measures into schemes?
AL – Solar PV panels do make their money back for householders within around 810 years so they are a good investment but the initial outlay is a lot to take on.
Andy Rigby - There needs to be greater co-operation from planners because maximising the sustainability of new homes can’t be achieved if there is a strong desire for design to fit in with the local vernacular.
Andrew Selleck – Renewable energy generation is less important than reducing consumption through cost effective measures such as: improving air-tightness and insulation in new homes. Technologies such as Passivhaus should also be invested in.
Tom Flanagan, Cornwall Council Corporate Director for Economy, Planning and Environment updated the group on the Local Enterprise Partnership.
The RDA comes to an official end in March 2012 with reduced capacity from 1st July 2011. The Government Office for the South West is also being abolished from April 2012. The Homes and Communities Agency are now based in Bristol so the LEP will provide the local steer for strategic developments. The Board has been appointed with 6 private sector and 5 public sector representatives. There is no housing representative on the Board so it is important that this Forum thinks about how they engage with the LEP, perhaps by inviting the Chair of the Board (Chris Pomfret) to a Forum meeting or perhaps by developing a prospectus to present to them. The LEP will be treated as a statutory consultee for planning matters. It appears likely that Cornwall will be eligible for Transition funding from Europe when Convergence funding has ceased. The LEP’s strategy is yet to be set.
Questions/Comments
Graham Clark – Commented that the impact of house-building is never factored into economic growth figures in Cornwall. This is effectively a manufacturing sector and its contribution not fully recognised.
The issue of highway bonds was raised by a number of representatives. Although the need to seek bonds was recognised, it was felt that Cornwall applied a rigid approach which differed from other councils in the SW. The cost of raising bonds had risen and in some cases couldn’t be secured. It was agreed that a sub group would look at this issue. TF is happy to be part of this process.
5. Secion 106. issues
Julian Kitto (JK), Cornwall Council Legal Services Manager acknowledged that there have been teething problems with s106s due to the merging of the Councils in 2009. Some s106s were outsourced to try to address the backlog but this actually increased the problems experienced and so they have been brought back in-house, with the majority of the backlog now cleared. A review and rationalisation exercise has been undertaken with new performance indicators set:
• 85% of agreements (in draft form) to be issued within 10 days of the instruction. The current rate is around 60% of agreements being issued within this timeframe. • 75% of agreements to be completed within the determination period.
The Planning Legal Team are being relocated into one building in Camborne’s Dolcoath offices to try to improve communication. JK is happy to discuss any s106 issues with members and gave out his contact details as follows: 01872 322098 or JKitto@cornwall.gov.uk. JK is happy to attend a future Forum meeting to discuss Legal’s business processes.
Phil Mason (PM) acknowledged that the 106 instruction is sometimes given too late in the planning process. However a standard process is being developed by Planning and Regeneration which it is hoped will ease the process.
The Planning Service was exploring whether to introduce a requirement for officers to achieve average determination targets as some schemes ceased to be a priority once they went past the determination period.
Questions/Comments
Andrew Selleck asked what work has been done by the Council to ensure lenders will allow lending on schemes as many s106 clauses can cause issues for buyers.
Louise Dwelly (LD) confirmed that discussions have taken place with the HCA’s Head of Intermediate Markets to ensure that new s106 templates and standard clauses are fit for purpose. Deeds of Modification are the usual way of dealing with any changes that are needed for lenders’ requirements.
6. Phil Mason (PM), Cornwall Council Head of Planning provided an update on some key issues
Core Strategy – Cabinet were due to consider the options for levels of housing growth later in the year but the proposed approach first needs to be considered by the Planning Policy Advisory Panel in August.
Prior to the Core Strategy, a number of strategic schemes were being considered by the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee. Success at committee was improved by early and comprehensive engagement with the planning authority and the community.
Building Standards – The Government has promoted the ability of LPAs to develop local building control standards and a partnership has been formed with the Building Research Establishment to look at how to deliver good standards of design and building in Cornwall. In addition the Council were working on a Design Guide which will be launched at an event in November.
Building Control services – PM introduced a discussion about the benefits of using local authority building control services instead of approved inspectors. There was an open invitation to compare the thermal performance of buildings through the use of a thermal imaging camera, which the Council would be happy to undertake.
Affordable Housing is a very high priority for Cornwall Council and work with advisors PriceWaterhouseCooper is progressing to look at delivery options for the Council’s former PFI sites. It is likely to result in a Joint Venture partnership being formed to look at these sites as a package. The level of investment required could exclude smaller developers and this was not the Council’s intention. There was scope to explore how the tendering process could promote the use of local labour.
Equity loans the Council was looking to introduce a new approach to affordable housing for sale. It wanted to promote equity loans delivered through planning gain, rather than low cost sale. This was because of the limited number of lenders and the complexity of s106 arrangements. Nominations and resales would instead be controlled by a second charge and restrictions on title. The scheme would mirror as far as possible the Government’s first buy scheme. The legal aspects of the scheme were currently being addressed.
7. Date of next meeting and proposed agenda items.
Date – 7th October 2011, 11:30 to 13:30
Venue – Council Chamber, Carrick House, Truro
The real problem being Cornwall council's rank hypocrisy in not allowing a balancing right of reply to the numerous objectors to hyper-development.
In a similar vein:
cornwallreports.co.uk/value-for-money-cornwall-development-company-still-under-pressure-to-justify-overseas-trips