Minutes:
5.1 The report from the Chairman was noted.
5.2 The Vice-Chairman invited Councillor Ward to present his report as Leader of the Council.
5.3 Councillor Ward made the following announcements:
LU & Regeneration Bill
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month. The bill is a long one: it has 11 parts to it and 338 pages, but I just want to highlight a few of the proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Levy parts.
It specified a number of amendments to existing legislation regarding planning and local plans, for example:
· local plans will be simplified by providing national policies in general areas so there is no need for local policies
· there will be mandatory design codes
· plan making will be streamlined by:
o gateway checks on plans before examination
o replacing the LDS with a simpler Local Plan Timetable process
o And the 5YLS requirements for the first 5 years of a plan will be removed
All these amendments are designed to ensure that it takes no longer than 30 months to produce a plan.
There will be a new infrastructure levy, replacing CIL:
· It will be locally set and collected
· It will be charged on the sale value of a property; the threshold will provide a build cost allowance to negate viability debates
· There will be a new right to require an affordable percentage
· The neighbourhood share retained
· The Infrastructure Delivery Strategy will specify use of the levy with priorities; there will be a duty to engage with providers
He could provide a more detailed summary for anyone who would like it.
What’s Next for Sudbury Exhibition
You will have seen last week’s media release that we will be holding a new public exhibition showcasing plans and proposals for Sudbury next month. This will update residents on progress on several projects since our last exhibition in January 2020.
While we focused on providing support for our communities and businesses during the Covid lockdowns, we also made progress on our plans, particularly the regeneration of the Hamilton Road Quarter, which is a very complex and difficult scheme.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to get an update on plans for the future of Market Hill, development of the Hamilton Road Quarter and the new café at Belle Vue Park, developments on the Virtual High Street and the new Innovation Lab in Borehamgate which will provide a resource for start-up and small businesses. There will also be a range of other initiatives and projects on show, including Gainsborough’s House, St Peter’s Church and the solar car port in the Station Road car park. Finally, visitors will also see the new initiatives from the Bridge Project and will be able to find out about the work of the Sudbury Culture Group which promotes the town’s attractions and heritage.
He was sure it would be a great success and generate a lot of comment and feedback.
Careeriosity
Our next Careeriosity event takes place in Sudbury on the 1st June. Careeriosity is a skills and education initiative for young people aged 13- 24 led by Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, which aims to inform young people about the fantastic and varied range of jobs available in Suffolk and how to access them. The Sudbury event is about the marketing industry and is being hosted by branding & marketing agency Mackman group in Meadow Lane, who are really committed to the event. Feedback from past events has been excellent and those attending have found them worthwhile and meaningful. More information can be found on the website. So please encourage any young people you know to attend and mention it to schools and youth groups if you get a chance.
Sudbury ATM
And finally, yesterday evening the Chief Executive and I were kindly invited to the Sudbury Annual Town Meeting to tell everyone what Babergh has been up to in the past year. Now I am used to getting quite a warm welcome when I go to my parishes and my ward, indeed only last week at a fairly full church in Higham after I delivered my annual report, I got a round of applause. So, it was with some surprise and gratitude that following an hour of giving our reports and taking questions we also received a round of applause from the attendees at the annual town meeting, it was very worthwhile event, there were some very good questions and everyone was really appreciative of the fact that we are trying our best to engage more with the town and improve what has admittedly at times been a fractious relationship. I had a good chat with the clerk and also the new Mayor Ellen Murphy and she was very appreciative of the fact that we put in the effort to do that, and they were very interested in what we had to say so all in all a very good evening for us both.
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