Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Guildhall, Bath. View directions

Contact: David Taylor  01225 - 394414

Items
No. Item

130.

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.

131.

Election of Vice Chair (if desired)

Minutes:

A Vice Chair was not required.

132.

Apologies for absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

Apology for absence was received from Councillor Lisa Brett.  Councillor Jeremy Sparks was substitute for Councillor Brett.

133.

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:

There were none.

134.

To Announce any Urgent Business Agreed by the Chair

Minutes:

There was none.

135.

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 and Ward Councillors wishing to make statements on Agenda item 10 (Article 4 Direction) and planning applications in Agenda items 10 and 11 and that they would be able to do so when reaching those items on the Agenda.

136.

Items from Councillors and Co-opted Members

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

Minutes:

As per minute 135.

137.

Minutes: 15th February 2012 pdf icon PDF 105 KB

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 15th February 2012

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED to confirm the minutes as the true record of the meeting and signed by the Chair subject to the following amendments:

 

·  Page 11, second to penultimate paragraph, fourth sentence should read: ‘….not harmful to openness or visual amenity and the danger of the speed of the traffic on Midford Road related to the access and egress.

138.

Major Developments

The Senior Professional – Major Developments to provide an oral update

Minutes:

Geoff Webber (Senior Professional – Major Developments) updated Members on the following:

 

1.  Kraft Keynsham Regeneration Scheme – a meeting with Taylor Wimpey had happened and the Committee will receive an update on the outcomes of that meeting at one of the future meetings.

2.  Radstock Regeneration Scheme – Geoff Webber informed the Committee that Councillor Eleanor Jackson asked two questions about the scheme. First question was about the clarification of validity of planning permission.  Geoff Webber confirmed that the development will commence no later than 5 years from when outline consent was given (March 2008).  The developer has until March 2013 to submit a request for a time extension.  Second question was about the highways in the area/phase 1 of the scheme (commercial area).  Geoff Webber responded that condition 32 requires that all highway works should be subject of the independent safety audit which has to be secured by the Council.

 

The Chair asked about the works on the transport interchange between the bus and train stations.  Councillor Les Kew commented that there was no signage indicating to the public what is happening on that site.

 

Geoff Webber responded that the works on the site are in progress and well on the way to achieving the target.  Geoff Webber also said that the site would need advertising consent to put up signage describing what is happening there.

 

The Chair thanked Geoff Webber for the update.

139.

Article 4 Direction - Houses in Multiple Occupation pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited the members of the public who had registered to speak on this matter to address the Committee.

 

Jackie Derbyshire, Naomi MacKrill, Harry Birch and Mark Rose read their statements to the Committee.  All four speakers asked that the Article 4 Direction and threshold policy should not be adopted by the Council.

 

Councillors Sharron Ball (Westmoreland Ward Councillor), June Player (Westmoreland Ward Councillor) and Will Sandry (Oldfield Ward Councillor) spoke in favour of the Article 4 Direction and threshold policy by saying that the Article 4 Direction will help control and ensure an even and fairer spread of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) across the area and it will also help towards establishing a sense of community.

 

The Chair thanked all the speakers and reminded the meeting that the Development Control Committee does not have the decision making power on this matter.  The Committee are asked to pass their views to the Cabinet who has its meeting later in the day.

 

The Chair invited Cleo Newcombe-Jones (Planning Officer) and Simon De Beer (Policy and Environment Manager) to introduce the report.

 

The Committee made the following points:

 

Councillor Les Kew said that the Article 4 Direction was not retrospective and as such it will not change much.  The Cabinet should not make the decision at this time but instead monitor this issue and bring it back for debate in one year’s time.  The Council should support students as they have limited incomes.  Councillor Kew expressed his concern about financial implications and in particular for the option 2 of the proposal.

 

Councillor Eleanor Jackson agreed with Councillor Kew.  Councillor Jackson appreciated the issues that the Ward Councillors had raised on this matter but, in her view, what is proposed is far too inflexible.  Councillor Jackson felt that students were singled out on this matter and expressed her concerns about graduate retention in BANES.  Councillor Jackson concluded her statement with a suggestion that the Cabinet do not make the decision now and instead monitor this issue and bring it back for debate next year with the BANES wide policy.

 

Councillor David Martin said that the Ward Councillors had highlighted the issue of community balance.  Councillor Martin had concerns that the report did not contain sufficient evidence to justify an Article 4 Direction and licensing.  Councillor Martin concluded that the consultation should go ahead and the recommendations should be taken forward as given.

 

Councillor Liz Hardman said that the number of HMOs will increase in time and highlighted that young professionals also live in HMOs.

 

Councillor Douglas Nicol agreed with Councillor Jackson and suggested that the Council should think again about the proposal.

 

Councillor Brian Webber said that he was sympathetic on issue of the community balance and on defending the desire for long standing communities to stay.  However, he was concerned about a lack of objective evidence of harm in the report.  Councillor Webber agreed with the suggestion from Councillor Kew and suggested that the Cabinet should wait for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.

140.

Site Visit List - Applications for Planning Permission Etc for Determination by the Committee pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered

 

·  A report on a planning application at Former Allotment Gardens, Southbourne Gardens, Fairfield Park, Bath.

 

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

 

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.

 

Former Allotment Gardens, Southbourne Gardens, Fairfield Park, Bath – Variation of condition 2 (plans list) of application 10/03251/VAR (Variation of condition 2 of application 07/01598/FUL to allow a variation to the design of house type A (Plots 1-8)). 

The Case Officer introduced the report and gave the reasons for their recommendation to Permit the application subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement (as presented in the report) and also subject to conditions.

 

Councillor Les Kew moved the officer’s recommendation to PERMIT this application.  Councillor Bryan Organ seconded the motion.

 

Members of the Committee debated the application, in particular the footway (pavement level) and the street lighting on site.  All Members of the Committee felt that the site visit was really useful. Councillor Martin Veal suggested that the paving stones were removed before construction works began and replaced after the works had finished. The officers took on board suggestion from Councillor Veal.

 

Voting:  11 in favour with 1 abstention. Motion carried.

 

Appendix 1 Speakers pdf icon PDF 17 KB

Appendix 2 Site Visit decision list pdf icon PDF 29 KB

141.

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

Minutes:

The Committee considered:

 

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

 

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

 

·  An Update Report by the Development Manager, 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 Sainsburys Supermarkets Limited, Green Park Station, Green Park Road, City Centre, Bath - Erection of extension to foodstore to provide additional retail floorspace and warehouse floorspace. Alterations to car park layout and engineering works to the southern bank of the River Avon to provide flood storage compensation.

Geoff Webber introduced the application and gave the reasons for his recommendation to Permit the application subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement (as presented in the main and update report) and also subject to the conditions presented in the main and update report. He also gave further advice following comments from English Heritage (attached as Appendix 5 to these minutes).

 

Members of the Committee debated this application and in particular the flood storage system, river safety on that part of the river, retail impact on Moorland Road and the design and sustainability of the store.  Some Committee Members suggested that the air quality could be improved by using the river, instead of HGVs, for deliveries.

 

Councillor Neil Butters moved the officer’s recommendation to delegate to PERMIT this application.  Councillor Bryan Organ seconded the motion.

 

Some Committee Members felt that future applications, such as this one, should have energy and sustainability issues included in their applications.

 

Voting: All in favour.  Motion carried. 

 

Item 2 The Bath Press, Lower Bristol Road, Westmoreland, Bath – Withdrawn from the agenda.

 

Item 3 The Galleries Shop, Freshford Lane, Freshford, Bath - Erection of extension to Freshford Shop to increase cafe area and decking.

The Case Officer introduced the report and gave the reasons for their recommendation to Refuse the application.

 

Councillor Neil Butters (local Ward Councillor) read out a statement in which he said that the shop is a success story for Freshford, it fulfils a community purpose and it also improved the look of the village hall.

 

Councillor Butters moved to overturn the officer’s recommendation and instead Permit the application for the following reasons: community benefit; reduction of car journeys; shop promotes village life and activity, and; the extension is adding to the viability of the shop. Councillor Martin Veal seconded the motion.

 

Members of the Committee debated the application.  Members generally supported the motion by saying that this is a successful small enterprise which benefits the community.  Some Members questioned if this would be against the Local Plan policy.

 

Lisa Bartlett (Development Manager) explained that the officers are bound to make recommendations on planning applications according to the Local Plan policy.  This proposal is in the Green Belt and as such was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141.

Appendix 3 Update report 14 march 2012 pdf icon PDF 36 KB

Appendix 4 Main decision list pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Appendix 5 Further advice on Sainsbury's application pdf icon PDF 17 KB

142.

New Planning Appeals Lodged, Decisions Received and Dates of Forthcoming Hearings/Inquiries pdf icon PDF 52 KB

To note the report

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED to note the report.