Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Virginia Moran.

There were no disclosures of interests.

Held on 10 September 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2024 were confirmed as a correct record.

This report presents to Cabinet a set of updated proposals in relation to off-street parking in the district.

Purpose of report

A set of updated proposals in relation to off-street parking in the district.

Decision

Cabinet:

1. Reconsidered its draft parking charging tariff proposals for Grantham and Stamford in response to the informal and initial feedback from the public, community groups and other stakeholders and approved the revised proposals set out in Appendix B (as amended).

2. Agreed the following amendments to Appendix B:

·         the charging period for Grantham and Stamford would be 8am-6pm Monday to Saturday

·         the application date of new charges was ‘to be advised’ rather than from April 2025

·         Long stay season tickets for the period Monday to Saturday in Grantham and Stamford would cost £21.50 per week, £75 per month or £200 per quarter and there will be no Monday to Sunday season tickets

3. Withdrew the proposal to introduce evening charging at Grantham and Stamford car parks.

4. Withdrew the proposal to introduce Sunday and Bank Holiday charging at Grantham and Stamford car parks.

5. Approved the introduction of 2 hours free parking in short stay car parks and 3 hours free parking in long stay car parks on Mondays to Wednesdays between 2^nd and 24^th December 2024 in both Grantham & Stamford.

6. Noted that the recommendations of the Capacity Study were supported unanimously by the Finance & Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 February 2024 and therefore agreed to:

·         commission a further car parking study six months after the implementation of the new car parking tariffs to assess their impact

·         request officers undertake further work in relation to the future car parking arrangements in Bourne and the Deepings, the parking arrangements for Blue Badge holders, and the future capacity requirements for Grantham and Stamford

7. Request Officers consider proposals to enable enforcement against unauthorised parking in designated play parks and green spaces.

8. Request Officers prepare a policy on the provision of free parking permits and discounted season tickets to nominated persons or organisations.

9. Approved the drafting of the variation to the South Kesteven District Council (Off-Street Parking Places) (Civil Enforcement Order) 2023, with or without amendments, for consultation in accordance with the Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996.

10. Delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property and Public Engagement to review any feedback received following the publication of the intention to vary the car parking tariffs in Grantham and Stamford.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet considered other options at their meeting on 18 January 2024 and this report updated the proposals that had been considered since that time.

Reasons for decisions

The proposals for introducing updated parking charges had been considered and this decision demonstrated the need to ensure that any changes to tariffs met the needs of users and the objectives that had been identified by the Capacity Study whilst ensuring each town’s economic activity continued to thrive.

Parking charges had not increased in the last 2 and a half years during which there had been considerable inflation. Not amending parking charges was not an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The purpose of the report is to explain the implications of the emerging National Planning Policy Framework on the South Kesteven Local Plan review and recommend that Cabinet endorses the continuing preparation of the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Local Plan in accordance with the approved Local Development Scheme.

Purpose of report

To explain the implications of the emerging National Planning Policy Framework on the South Kesteven Local Plan review.

Decision

Cabinet endorsed the preparation of the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Local Plan in accordance with the approved Local Development Scheme (Contained as Option 1 within the report).

Alternative options considered and rejected

Other Options considered, and discounted, included:

Option 2: Pause Local Plan preparation

Option 2 assumed that the consultation National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) would be finalised ‘as is’ requiring the Council to revise the Local Plan to take into account the new NPPF, as such the following steps would have been undertaken:

•      Pause preparation of the Regulation 19 Local Plan

·         Commence work on revising the Local Plan to take into account the revised NPPF, with the view of publishing a Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan, including additional sites to meet the increased housing need, as soon as possible after the NPPF was published, to meet the December 2026 Submission deadline.

·         Since the publication of the consultation version of the NPPF, work on evidence had temporarily paused until a decision was made as to how to proceed. As Option 2 paused plan preparation, evidence work would also continue to be paused until the NPPF was published. However, to take into account a revised NPPF with increased housing numbers and new national policy, it was anticipated that approximately five evidence-based documents would require review with unknown cost implications.

·         Officers had carried out a high-level assessment of the potential housing sites that had been submitted through the ‘call for sites’ process and believed that, in the event of a higher housing requirement as proposed in the consultation NPPF, the Council would not need to reopen the call for sites.

·         If, when the ‘new’ NPPF was published, it transpired that the Council could have proceeded using the current housing requirements and the deadline for submission to the Secretary of State was not extended beyond the June 2025 deadline, this option would have meant that the Council would not be able to submit its Local Plan for examination. The risks associated with this option are set out in the risk assessment contained within the report.

Reasons for decision

It was resolved to proceed with Regulation 19 Pre-Submission, pushing consultation to January 2025. It was important to note, that amending the consultation date to January remained in accordance with the Council’s published Local Development Scheme which scheduled consultation of the Pre-Submission Local Plan to commence in Winter 2024.

Whilst this option was at risk, it was deemed that the Council would be in the best position to switch to either Option 1 Scenario a or b depending on the outcome of the NPPF, once published.

Whilst Option 1 Scenario a would inevitably require review of a raft of evidence documents, the government had indicated that:

“We recognise that these arrangements would require some local planning authorities to undertake unforeseen additional work and reopen engagement with communities. Therefore, the Government will provide direct  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To provide Cabinet with an opportunity to review the Council’s latest version of its Data Protection Policy.

Purpose of report

An opportunity to review the Council’s latest version of its Data Protection Policy.

Decision

Cabinet approved the draft Data Protection Policy as set out in Appendix A of the report.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Not to make any changes to the existing Policy.

To recommend any further amendments to the Policy.

Reasons for decision

It was a legal requirement to create and maintain a Data Protection Policy and formally set out the arrangements for the management of the Council’s responsibilities. The decision reflected the outcome of a review of the Council’s current Policy which had been undertaken.

The Policy was last updated in 2021 and therefore had been due for a review in 2024 as part of good practice. There were only minor changes to the existing Policy. These changes provided greater clarity to the document, and included information related to definitions, roles, data breaches, data handling and appeals and complaints.

This report highlights matters on the Cabinet’s Forward Plan.

The Fleet Strategy item originally proposed for October’s meeting of Cabinet was now due to be considered in February 2025.

The Forward Plan was noted.

The meeting closed at 10:59pm.