Agenda and minutes

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Contact: David Taylor  01225 - 394414

Items
No. Item

97.

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

98.

Election of Vice Chair (if desired)

Minutes:

A Vice Chair was not required

99.

Apologies for absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

There was none

100.

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 no declarations of interest

101.

To Announce any Urgent Business Agreed by the Chair

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business

102.

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 about the subject of this meeting and that they would be able to speak for up to 3 minutes when reaching that Item on the Agenda

103.

Items from Councillors and Co-opted Members

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

Minutes:

There was none

104.

Land at former Fullers Earthworks, Fosseway, Combe Hay, Bath pdf icon PDF 242 KB

To consider a joint report by the Planning and Environmental Law Manager and Development Manager

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr Harwood, Planning Consultant, gave a power point presentation on this matter. He referred to the Officers’ Update Report (attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes) which commented on further representations received and clarified aspects of the Main Report.

 

The public speakers made their statements on the matter (the Speakers List is attached as Appendix 2 to these Minutes). Councillor Tim Ball, Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning, addressed the meeting and requested that copies of comments and documentation that are not planning related be sent to appropriate Cabinet Members for consideration.

 

Councillor David Veale made a statement as Committee and Ward Member. He considered that little had been achieved in recent years and that, if meaningful negotiations did not achieve any progress, enforcement action needed to be considered.

 

At the Chair’s request, Members asked questions for clarification. They were centred on progress on the negotiations for the delivery of a residual waste facility on the site and the timescale by which enforcement action could be taken against what appears to be breaches of planning control set out in the Report so as not to fall foul of the 10 year rule after which no enforcement action would be possible. The Planning Consultant advised that, on the basis of the information available, it was considered that immunity would not arise until Spring/Summer 2013. Councillor Martin Veal felt that, if a specific date could not be provided at this meeting, it could, after further consideration by Officers, be posted on the Council’s website including all the unlawful activities covered by that date. However, the Development Manager, after liaison with Officers, considered that early Spring 2013 was the earliest possible date but if the Committee wanted a specific date, it was considered that 1st February 2013 could be the date to work to. In response to another query, the Planning and Environmental Law Manager stated that Counsel’s advice had been sought and that Counsel had had input into the Committee Report. Councillor Martin Veal queried why there were no comments from the body in charge of the Cotswold AONB given its location to the site and considered that their views should be sought.

 

The Chair opened the matter up for debate. Councillor Les Kew considered that further information was required. He felt that insufficient detail was available for the Committee on the negotiations with the owner/operator on the delivery of a residual waste facility on the site. He considered that, without full information, it would be difficult to make a decision at this meeting regarding enforcement action. He therefore moved that the recommendations be accepted but that all the information regarding the negotiations for the delivery of a residual waste facility be provided at a meeting of this Committee by no later than 30th March 2012 and that the Strategic Director for Service Delivery be asked to attend that meeting; and that a Site Visit be held prior to the Committee meeting. Councillor Lisa Brett considered that the motion needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.