South East Region 070111

Date: 7/1/2011

EXTRACT:

Note of meeting held at Haywards Heath on 7th January 2011

Present:  Stuart Hylton (Berkshire JSPU), Graham Jones (POSE), Ian Dunsford (GOSE), Chris Kenneford (Bucks CC), Catriona Riddell (Consultant), David Payne (Consultant), Sue Janota (Surrey CC), Louise Gibbons (Mid Sussex), Claire Tester (Mid Sussex), Gary Rhodes-Brown (Mole Valley), Tim Barkley (Mid Sussex), James Freeman (Swale), Max Baker (Bracknell Forest), Robert Jackson (Hart), Steve Avery (New Forest), Giorgio Framallicco (Basingstoke), Michael Crofton Briggs (Oxford), Karen Dower (Chichester), Tony Cook (East Sussex), Bill Murphy (Isle of Wight), Rob Done (Oxfordshire CC), Steve Carvell (Chichester), Nick Rogers (Mid Sussex), David Reed (Canterbury), Chris Elliott (New Forest), David Lamb (Surrey CC), Katherine Harrison ((Surrey CC), Linda Arlidge (Windsor and Maidenhead), Nick Antoniou (Arun), Piers Mason (Tandridge), Nicky Linihan (POS Cabinet), Katie Bailey (Rushmoor), Bev Hindle (Bracknell), Ernest Amoako (Woking), Jerry Unsworth (Wycombe), Matthew Evans (Waverley), John Slater (Portsmouth),

Apologies: Bob Evans, Keith Holland, Neil Border, Chris Cousins, Alistair Robson, John Silvester , Andy Barton, Douglas Spinks, Lindsay Frost, Bryan Lyttle, Anna Cronin, David Breeze, Mark Berry, Martin Vink, Howard Cheadle, Tim Slaney, John Kilford, Adrian Bishop, Graham Ashworth. Among the apologies, Stuart pointed out that this would in any event have been John Silvester's last meeting, since a house move was taking him into a different POS region. The meeting recorded its thanks for his contributions to the region's work over the years.

1. Minutes of 17 September: Agreed.
2. Matters arising: Nobody could recall having seen the LGA papers on infrastructure funding and Housing Benefit reform, promised by Russell Reefer at the September meeting. Stuart will chase them up (ACTION: STUART HYLTON). In relation to the question of what were the minimum statutory duties of a planning authority, Stuart reported that he had sought advice from the planning division of the Law Society and the Government Office. There was a distinction to be made, between statutory duties that were mandatory (e.g. dealing with planning applications) and those that were discretionary (e.g. taking enforcement action) though he had encountered differing views as to which bits of planning fell into which categories. There was also the discretion built into the amount of resource you were required to devote to any aspect of planning (be it mandatory or discretionary). Further details if and when anything is received.

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