Agenda and minutes

Venue: Brunswick Room - Guildhall, Bath

Contact: David Taylor  01225 - 394414

Items
No. Item

82.

Emergency evacuation procedure

The Chair will ask the Committee Administrator to draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 7

Minutes:

The Senior Democratic Services Officer read out the procedure

83.

Election of Vice Chair (if desired)

Minutes:

A Vice Chair was not required

84.

Apologies for absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

There was an apology for absence from Councillor Martin Veal whose substitute was Councillor Brian Webber

85.

Declarations of Interest

At this point in the meeting, declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number and site in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or other interest (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Minutes:

There was none

86.

To Announce any Urgent Business Agreed by the Chair

Minutes:

There was none.

 

However, the Chair informed the meeting that 1) the MoD Warminster Road planning application (Item 3, Report 10) had been withdrawn from the Agenda at the developers’ request and would not be considered at this meeting; 2) the application on Greenlands, Bath Road, Farmborough (Item 1, Report 10) would be taken before the Site Visits report as this was the 3rd time in succession that the application had been considered by the Committee and the speakers would otherwise have had to wait a considerable amount of time before the application was considered at this meeting; and 3) the Planning Office had received an award at 10 Downing Street for being voted in the top 5 best performing Planning Offices in the country for dealing with planning applications and he congratulated the Officers on this achievement.

87.

Items from the Public - To receive Deputations, Statements, Petitions or Questions

(1) At the time of publication, no items had been submitted.

 

(2) To note that, regarding planning applications to be considered, members of the public who have given the requisite notice to the Committee Administrator will be able to make a statement to the Committee immediately before their respective applications are considered. There will be a time limit of 3 minutes for each proposal, ie 3 minutes for the Parish and Town Councils, 3 minutes for the objectors to the proposal and 3 minutes for the applicant, agent and supporters. This allows a maximum of 9 minutes per proposal.

Minutes:

The Senior Democratic Services Officer stated that 1) there were no speakers on matters other than planning and applications; and 2) there were various people wishing to make statements on planning applications who would be able to do so when reaching their respective items in Reports 9 and 10

88.

Items from Councillors and Co-opted Members - Opa, North Parade, Bath

To deal with any petitions or questions from Councillors and where appropriate Co-opted Members

Minutes:

The Chair (1) stated that there were no items notified for this meeting; and (2) requested Officers to update the meeting on Opa, North Parade, Bath, as requested by Councillor Manda Rigby at the previous meeting.

 

The Principal Solicitor informed the meeting that an Enforcement Notice specifying various requirements had been issued on 10th July 2013. An appeal had been lodged under Ground (f) and the Inspector had dismissed the appeal. However, a legal challenge against the Inspector’s decision had then been lodged in the High Court and a Hearing date was awaited. The Notice was of no effect pending the final determination of the appeal. Councillor Manda Rigby, on behalf of local residents, requested that Officers keep pressing for the matter to be expedited.

89.

Minutes: 19th November 2014 pdf icon PDF 75 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 19th November 2014

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair signed the Minutes as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

 

Minute 75 Delete “There was none” and replace with “Councillor Manda Rigby requested that the next meeting of the Committee be updated on the situation at Opa, North Parade, Bath, as regards the enforcement action.”

 

Minute 78 5th sentence Item 1 MoD Ensleigh In the penultimate paragraph, delete the words “The mover and seconder agreed to the inclusion of an appropriate S106 clause which would restrict the final phase of the scheme until the school was built and functioning” and replace with “The mover and seconder agreed to the inclusion of an appropriate S106 clause proposed by Councillor Manda Rigby which would restrict the commencement of building Phase III until the school was built and functioning which would happen no later than September 2017.”

 

Minute 78 4th paragraph Items 2&3 Hope House, Lansdown In the last sentence, after “Councillor Neil Butters seconded the motion” insert “… on the basis of the impact on adjoining residents.”

90.

Site Visit List - Applications for Planning Permission Etc for Determination by the Committee pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered

 

·  A report by the Group Manager – Development Management on applications for planning permission etc.

·  An Update Report by the Group Manager on Item Nos. 5 – 7, a copy of which is attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes

·  Oral statements by members of the public etc. on Item Nos. 1 – 7, a copy of the Speakers List being attached as Appendix 2 to these Minutes

 

RESOLVED that, in accordance with their delegated powers, the applications be determined as set out in the Decisions List attached as Appendix 3 to these Minutes

 

Item 1 No 10 Chapel Road, Clandown, Radstock – Erection of single storey rear extension – The Team Leader – Development Management reported on this application and the recommendation to grant permission subject to conditions.

 

The applicant made a statement in favour of the proposed development which was followed by a statement by the Ward Councillor Eleanor Jackson expressing concerns about the development.

 

Councillor Manda Rigby stated that the Ward Councillor Simon Allen was in support of the application. Councillor Ian Gilchrist considered that the development would have an oppressive effect on the adjoining property and therefore moved that permission be refused. The motion was not seconded.

 

Councillor Les Kew stated that the site visit was very useful. This was a small addition to the extension that had already been approved and he therefore moved the Officer recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Dave Laming.

 

After a brief discussion, the motion was put to the vote and was carried, 12 voting in favour and 1 against.

 

Reference was made by a Member to adding a condition regarding hours of construction but the Team Manager replied that this would not be appropriate as construction on the extension had already commenced and was not of a scale that would normally attract such a condition.

 

Item 2 No 39 High Street, Keynsham – Change of use of ground floor from Offices (B1) to Café/Bar (A3) with alterations to street frontage windows to sliding doors, new extract flue and use of public highway for siting of 2 tables and 8 chairs – The Case Officer reported on this application and her recommendation to grant permission subject to conditions. She stated that Condition 5 relating to hours of use would need to be amended to read Sunday to Thursday etc. instead of Monday to Thursday.

 

The applicant made a statement in favour of the proposal which was followed by a statement by the Ward Councillor Charles Gerrish.

 

Councillor Bryan Organ (Ward Member on the Committee) expressed concerns about the proposed use and stated that, if permitted, the conditions would need to be monitored closely. Councillor Les Kew considered on balance that this was a good use for the building and therefore moved the Officer recommendation but with no music on Sundays. Members discussed this proposed condition. The Principal Solicitor gave advice on this aspect as regards noise and licensing issues. Members discussed the installation of sliding doors  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

91.

Main Plans List - Applications for Planning Permission Etc for Determination by the Committee pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered

 

·  The report of the Group Manager – Development Management on various applications for planning permission etc.

·  An Update Report by the Group Manager on Item No. 2, a copy of which is attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes

·  Oral statements by members of the public etc. on Item Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5, a copy of the Speakers List being attached as Appendix 2 to these Minutes

 

RESOLVED that, in accordance with their delegated powers, the applications be determined as set out in the Decisions List attached as Appendix 4 to these Minutes

 

Item 1 Greenlands, Bath Road, Farmborough – Erection of detached garage and creation of new driveway and provision of acoustic fence. Provision of additional patio doors and wc window to bungalow (Resubmission) – The Team Leader – Development Management reported on this application and the recommendation to grant permission subject to conditions.

 

The public speakers made their statements against and in favour of the application which was followed by a statement by the Ward Councillor Sally Davis.

 

Councillor Vic Pritchard considered that there was a consistency issue as apparently there was no difference between the earlier drawings and those provided for this scheme as pointed out by the Ward Councillor. He therefore moved that permission be refused which was seconded by Councillor Bryan Organ.

 

Members debated the motion. There was some support for the motion but most Members felt that the scheme had merit. It was considered that it was logical for the driveway to be provided for the garage and that it would be worse if the garage was at the top of the site on the main road. There were no good reasons to warrant refusal of permission. There was some discussion regarding the levels of the drive and the noise survey. The Team Manager – Development Management considered that, having listened to the debate, if Members wanted to refuse the application, the reasons as set on page 105 of the report could be relied upon to justify a refusal, namely, that the proposed ramped access, by reason of its design, size, height, bulk, mass and positioning, would have an overbearing impact upon the amenities of the occupiers of Conkers Cottage. This was accepted by the mover and seconder. He pointed to the reasons why permission should be granted as set out on page 106 of the report. The Chair summed up the debate and stated that he would not support refusal. Councillor Malcolm Lees requested that Officers ensure that the acoustic fence be of an appropriate standard should permission be granted.

 

After a long debate, the motion was put to the vote. Voting: 4 in favour and 8 against. Motion lost.

 

It was therefore moved by Councillor Rob Appleyard to accept the Officer recommendation to permit with conditions which was seconded by Councillor Dave Laming. The motion was put to the vote and was carried, 8 voting in favour and 4 against with 1 abstention.

 

Item 2 No  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

92.

New Planning Appeals Lodged, Decisions Received and Dates of Forthcoming Hearings/Inquiries pdf icon PDF 24 KB

To note the report

Minutes:

The report was noted