Agenda and minutes

Venue: Brunswick Room - Guildhall, Bath

Contact: David Taylor  01225 - 394414

Items
No. Item

105.

Emergency evacuation procedure

The Chair will ask the Committee Administrator to draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6

Minutes:

The Senior Democratic Services Officer read out the procedure

106.

Election of Vice Chair (if desired)

Minutes:

A Vice Chair was not required

107.

Apologies for absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence

108.

Declarations of Interest

Members who have an interest to declare are asked to state:

 

(a) the Item No and site in which they have an interest; (b) the nature of the interest; and (c) whether the interest is personal or personal and prejudicial.

 

Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself.

Minutes:

Councillor Eleanor Jackson referred to matters relating to the planning application at the Alcan Factory, Nightingale Way, Midsomer Norton (Item 2, Report 11) which she considered were not declarations of interest. Councillor Gerry Curran stated that, with regard to the application at Bath Press, Lower Bristol Road, Bath (Item 1, Report 11) he had performed an opening ceremony at the Tesco store in Englishcombe Lane, Bath, in his capacity as an employee of a local respite care home. However, he felt that this did not affect his ability to judge the application and he would therefore speak and vote on the matter.

109.

To Announce any Urgent Business Agreed by the Chair

Minutes:

There were no items of Urgent Business

110.

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 informed the meeting that there were various members of the public etc. wishing to make statements on planning applications in Reports 10 and 11 and that they would be able to do so when reaching those items on the Agenda. He stated that, in view of the number of speakers objecting to the application on the Bath Press site, the Chair had extended the speaking time to 2 minutes each making a total of 8 minutes and the same total amount of time would be given to the speaker in favour.

111.

Items from Councillors and Co-opted Members

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

Minutes:

There were no items from Councillors

112.

Minutes: 14th December 2011 and 5th January 2012 pdf icon PDF 54 KB

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 14th December 2011 (attached) and the Special meeting held on Thursday 5th January 2012 (to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meetings held on 14th December 2011 and 5th January 2012 were approved as correct records and signed by the Chair

113.

Major Developments

The Senior Professional – Major Developments to provide an oral update

Minutes:

The Senior Professional – Major Developments updated Members on (1) the Radstock Regeneration Scheme on which there would be changes to the highway details and he would report further to a future Committee meeting; and (2) Kraft Keynsham Regeneration Scheme where Taylor Wimpey had been selected by the owners as developers for the Scheme and that meetings would be held to agree a programme for submitting a planning application.

 

Members noted the update.

114.

Site Visit List - Application for Planning Permission Etc for Determination by the Committee pdf icon PDF 827 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered

 

·  a report by the Development Manager on a planning application at Fairash Poultry Farm, Compton Martin Road, West Harptree

 

·  an oral statement by a member of the public speaking against the proposal, the Speakers List being attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes

 

·  a statement by the Ward Councillor Tim Warren

 

RESOLVED that, in accordance with their delegated powers, the application be determined as set out in the Decision List attached as Appendix 2 to these Minutes.

 

Fairash Poultry Farm, Compton Martin Road, West Harptree – Erection of 7 dwellings following demolition of existing poultry farm – The Team Leader – Development Management reported on this application and the recommendation to refuse permission. The public speaker made her statement against the proposal and the Ward Member made a statement.

 

Members discussed the proposal. Councillor Eleanor Jackson considered this was a prominent site in the AONB and moved the Recommendation to Refuse. This was seconded by Councillor Liz Hardman.

 

Members debated the motion. It was generally considered that the proposed development in the middle of open countryside would be contrary to policy and would detrimentally affect the character of the AONB.

 

The motion was put to the vote and was carried, 11 voting in favour and 0 against with 1 abstention.

115.

Main Plans List - Applications for Planning Permission Etc for Determination by the Committee pdf icon PDF 587 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered

 

·  A report by the Development Manager on various applications for planning permission etc

 

·  Oral statements by members of the public etc on Item Nos 1-3, the Speakers List being attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes

 

·  An Update Report by the Development Manager on Item Nos 1-3, a copy of which is attached as Appendix 3 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 Former Bath Press, Lower Bristol Road, Bath – Mixed use redevelopment comprising 6,300sqm of retail (Class A1), 4,580sqm of creative workspace (Class B1), 2,830sqm of offices (Class B1), 10 residential houses, car park, landscape and access (including realignment of Brook Road) – The Case Officer, the Senior Professional - Major Developments and the Council’s Retail Consultant reported on this proposal which was the subject of an appeal against non-determination. The Recommendation was that, if the Council had been in a position to make a decision, the recommendation would be to refuse permission for the reasons set out in the Report. It was pointed out that the appellants had submitted an earlier application which was broadly similar to this proposal except for omitting some office accommodation (but including community space) and providing information regarding an approach towards addressing the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) objections regarding the proximity to the operational gas holder site. That application had not been appealed and is likely to be reported to Members at the February meeting of the Committee.

 

The Update Report gave Officers’ comments on various issues that had been raised. The Senior Transport Planner reported on the highway aspects of the proposal. The Senior Professional – Major Developments advised Members that, in the last 24 hours, Heads of Terms had been received from the appellants in connection with the earlier application and regarding a contract between various parties to secure the decommissioning of the gas holder site. He advised Members that, whilst the Heads of Terms were not legally binding and had been submitted in connection with the earlier application, they were material to the consideration of the appealed application as they did indicate that the parties were working to resolve the issue. However, at this time, the Officers were not satisfied that the gas holder issue was resolved and would continue discussions with the appellants and the HSE in this regard. The Council’s Retail Consultant provided responses to Members’ questions and explained the background to his advice to the Council on this proposal.

 

Members asked questions about the proposal for clarification to which officers responded. The public speakers then made their statements followed by a statement by the Ward Councillor June Player speaking against the proposal.

 

Councillor Martin Veal considered that there were many anomalies about the proposal and many issues had not been resolved. He felt that there should be continuing dialogue with the appellants and moved the Recommendation which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.

116.

Tree Preservation Order - 29 Flatwoods Road, Claverton Down, Bath pdf icon PDF 54 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Arboricultural Officer submitted a report which requested Members to confirm, with a modification to alter the schedule to 14 Beech, the Tree Preservation Order entitled “Bath and North East Somerset Council (29 Flatwoods Road, Claverton Down, Bath No 267) Tree Preservation Order 2011” to protect a group of trees which make a significant contribution to the landscape and amenity of the area.

 

Councillor Les Kew moved that the Recommendation be approved which was seconded by Councillor Eleanor Jackson. Members debated the motion.

 

RESOLVED to confirm the Tree Preservation Order entitled “Bath and North East Somerset Council (29 Flatwoods Road, Claverton Down, Bath No 267) Tree Preservation Order 2011” with a modification to alter the schedule to 14 Beech.

117.

Quarterly Performance Report - July to September 2011 pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report which provided Members with performance information across a range of activities within the Development Management function during the period 1st July to 30th September 2011.

 

RESOLVED to note the report and thank Officers for their hard work and efforts in achieving the reported performance.

118.

New Planning Appeals Lodged, Decisions Received and Dates of Forthcoming Hearings/Inquiries pdf icon PDF 36 KB

To note the report

Minutes:

RESOLVED to note the report and commend Officers on their success rate of appeals being dismissed.