When planning permission was granted in October 2021 for the construction of an Amazon Delivery Station at 32 New Lane, the Grant of Planning Permission for Application APP/21/00200 requested that the operator of the site set up a Community Liaison Panel in response to the nature and volume of public objections received.
In February 2022, a further planning application was approved through which Amazon sought changes to the original planning conditions in order to make the site ‘commercially viable’. As part of this second planning application, the Community Liaison Panel was defined by a new planning condition, numbered 30:
CONDITION 30
Prior to occupation, the operator will establish a Community Liaison Panel (CLP) with key stakeholders and interested parties.
The Terms of Reference will be established at the first meeting, including escalation of concerns submitted by members.
The operator will maintain a list of membership details
A schedule of meetings to be offered to the panel
To provide residents and stakeholders an opportunity to feedback to the site operators on the effectiveness of the arrangements in place. Comments received will be used to make improvements to the site operations and address issues that arise as and where appropriate.
Reason: To allow for community engagement and to seek to address issues raised by the community in the interests of amenity having due regard to policies CS16, CS20 and DM12 of the Havant Borough Local Plan (Core Strategy) 2011 and the National Planning Policy Framework.
The final text of Condition 30 was negotiated in confidence between Havant Borough Council and Amazon UK Services Ltd. At the time of publication in the Grant of Planning Permission for the second planning application, neither local residents nor local businesses had been informed of the identity of ‘the intended occupier’, both planning applications having been submitted anonymously.
Amazon operations at the site were first observed on March 1st, 2023. The Community Liaison Panel was constituted five months later in July 2023 with a first, preliminary, meeting held on 17 July with Cllr. Imogen Payter as its appointed chair.
The invitees to the Community Liaison Panel included:
- Five elected HBC council members, representing Bondfield and St Faith’s wards
- The HBC Executive Head of Place
- The HBC Planning Officer associated with the original planning applications
- The Amazon DPO1 Site Manager
- A representative from Economic Development and Public Policy at Amazon UK Services Ltd.
- Four local community resident representatives
- One local community business representative
The four local community representatives had been randomly selected by one of the elected councillors from responses to a mailshot limited to selected addresses in New Lane, Crossland Drive, Nutwick Road and Swallow Close.
A second meeting was held on 31 July at which the Terms of Reference were agreed by those present.
Minutes from both meetings will be published by Amazon in due course.
Havant Civic Society 