This meeting of the Transport and Place Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to include an update on the risks of flooding in Greenwich, a report on the progress of the new Local Plan, and a summary of the performance of the planning service. It was also scheduled to note a series of reports that are due to be presented to the Panel at its meeting on 20 November 2024.

Flood Risk/Water Management Update

A report entitled 'Flood Risk and Water Management Update' was scheduled to be included in this meeting.

The report explains the sources of flood risk in Greenwich and the role of the Council and its partners in mitigating that risk. It explains that:

With regards to flood risk, Greenwich faces some unique challenges in comparison to other London Boroughs.

The report goes on to identify the sources of those challenges as being the risk of the Thames Barrier being breached, and the fact that:

Thamesmead is formed of former marshland, and largely sits beneath river level. It is artificially kept dry. There is significant housing stock in Thamesmead, which would be put at severe risk if a flood event were to occur.

The report then summarises the Council's statutory responsibilities for managing flood risk. The report then goes on to list the Council's current and recent activities in mitigating flood risk. This includes working with Thames Water to investigate flooding hotspots, updating the Council's Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, developing a SuDS ¹ opportunity map to support applications for grant funding for flood alleviation schemes, and securing £1 million in funding for the Clothworkers Wood flood alleviation scheme.

Update on Local Plan, Planning Enforcement and Planning Performance

A report entitled 'Update on Local Plan, Planning Enforcement and Planning Performance' was scheduled to be included in this meeting.

The report provides a summary of the progress made on the new Local Plan, the work of the planning enforcement team, and the performance of the planning service in terms of its speed and the quality of its decision-making.

Local Plan

The report describes the work that has been done on the new Local Plan since the previous version was adopted, and how the Council has engaged with the public on the new plan. The report explains the process the Council is obliged to follow in producing a new Local Plan, and lists the various studies that the Council is undertaking to ensure that the new plan is informed by robust evidence. These studies include a Local Housing Needs Assessment and an Employment Needs Assessment.

Planning Enforcement

The report describes the work of the planning enforcement team, and summarises its activities in the previous year. The report explains that the Council received 229 new planning enforcement enquiries between April and September 2024, and closed 596 cases in the same period.

Planning Performance

The report details the performance of the planning service in terms of the speed and the quality of its decision-making. It lists the proportion of applications that were determined within the statutory timeframes over the previous four years, broken down into the following categories:

Major applications - those for 10 or more homes, or more than 1,000sqm of floorspace
Non-Major applications - any application for fewer than 10 homes, or less than 1,000sqm of floorspace
Other applications - applications for things like Lawful Development Certificates ², Prior Approval applications ³, and applications relating to trees

The report explains that the Planning service has a backlog of undetermined applications. The report says that:

As of April 24 [2024], this has decreased through various internal initiatives to reduce the backlog. The current backlog levels are still considered to be at unacceptable levels and further work needs to be done to reduce these further, especially in the major team.

Commissioning of Future Reports

The final item on the agenda was for the Panel to note a series of reports that are due to be presented to it at its meeting on 20 November 2024. These reports will cover the following topics:

Transport Work Programme
Third Party Strategic Projects (Transport)
Cabinet Member Update - Planning, Estate Regeneration and Development

SuDS stands for Sustainable Drainage Systems. These are systems designed to manage rainfall by using natural processes to slow down and hold water, as opposed to traditional drainage systems which tend to take water away from where it falls as quickly as possible. SuDS can include things like green roofs, rain gardens, ponds, and permeable paving, and can help to reduce flood risk, improve water quality, and create more attractive and biodiverse urban spaces. ↩
A Lawful Development Certificate allows a homeowner or developer to confirm that the use of their property, or works they have done to their property are lawful for planning purposes. A homeowner might apply for a Lawful Development Certificate if they are unsure whether historic works done to their property were lawful, or if they need to demonstrate to a buyer that their property has been lawfully extended, for example. ↩
Prior Approval is a type of planning application that allows certain types of minor development to proceed without the need for a full planning application. Examples of development that might be eligible for Prior Approval include the erection of a small extension to a house, or the installation of solar panels on a roof. ↩

Transport and Place Scrutiny Panel - Thursday, 3rd October, 2024 6.30 pm

Summary