Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all councillors, officers and members of the public viewing on YouTube to this first virtual meeting of the Planning Committee.  He confirmed the presence of all members and officers in attendance at the meeting.

He explained that the meeting was being held under The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.  The Council has agreed a protocol to cover virtual meetings and he confirmed that the meeting would operate in line with that protocol.  The meeting has the same status and validity as a meeting held in the Guildhall.

The Council did not currently have the facilities to allow members of the public and ward councillors to present statements directly to the Committee.  Some members of the public and ward councillors had submitted written statements in advance to the Committee.  These had been circulated to Committee members and would be read out by the Chair before the item to which they relate.  The contents of these statements would be taken into consideration when decisions were made.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sue Craig – substitute Cllr Rob Appleyard.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

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 in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an 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 or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

The Chair informed the meeting that there were a number of people who had submitted written statements on planning applications and that he would read out these statements when these items were discussed.

There was also a general statement from Caroline Kay, Chief Executive of the Bath Preservation Trust, which the Chair read out at this point.  The statement marked the historic moment of this first virtual meeting of the Planning Committee and pointed out that, however difficult it currently is to interact directly with the local community, constituents and consultees they are still here and wish to work together as a community for the benefit of the local area.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2020 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Committee considered:

·  A report by the Head of Planning on various planning applications.

·  An update report by the Head of Planning on attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

·  Written statements submitted by members of the public and representatives.  A copy of the public participants’ list is attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes.

RESOLVED that in accordance with the delegated powers, the applications be determined as set out in the decisions list attached as Appendix 3 to these minutes.

Item Nos. 1 and 2

Application Nos. 19/05508/LBA and 19/05507/FUL

Site Location: Old House, Northend, Batheaston, Bath – External alterations for the erection of a parking area gate mechanism, boundary pier and replacement walling. (Regularisation).  Erection of a parking area gate mechanism, boundary pier and replacement walling (Retrospective).

The Case Officer reported on the applications and her recommendation to refuse.

The Chair then read out the two written public statements that had been submitted:

·  Objection to the application from the Bath Preservation Trust.

·  In support of the application from the applicant.

The Case Officer and Planning Team Manager then responded to questions as follows:

·  The property referred to in the public statement submitted by the applicant, Valley View, is located approximately half a mile north of the site and is not visible along the lane from Old House.  Valley View does not adjoin Old House and the two properties cannot be seen in the context of each other.

·  Old House is located outside of the main part of the settlement of the village of Northend.  The majority of the properties in the village are located in a cluster, then properties become more sporadic.  The property in question is outside of the Housing Development Area.

Cllr Jackson moved the officer recommendations to refuse.  She stated that the virtual site visit, consisting of a video taken by the Planning Team Manager, had been very helpful.  She noted that a historic wall had been lost and that the development had made an adverse impact on a listed building.  The development made the property appear too suburban in this location and she felt that the rural nature of the area should be maintained.

Cllr Rigby seconded the motion for the reasons set out in the officer’s report.

Cllr Davis stated that she had found the virtual site visit very helpful and would support the motion.

The motion was put to the vote and it was RESOLVED by 9 votes in favour to REFUSE planning permission and listed building consent for the reasons set out in the report.

(Note: Cllr Duncan Hounsell lost connection to the meeting during part of this item and was therefore unable to vote).

Item No. 3

Application No. 19/04797/FUL

Site Location: 3 Scumbrum Lane, High Littleton, BS39 6JN – Erection of a single and two storey rear extension.

The Case Officer reported on her application and her recommendation to permit.

The Chair read out the three written public statements that had been submitted:

·  Objection to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

“the Committee having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, RESOLVES that the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A), because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.   

The Case Officer presented his report and his recommendation to seek an injunction.

The Chair read out a written statement, in support of enforcement action, that had been submitted by Clutton Parish Council.

Cllr Davis, local ward member, stated that the breach of planning control had been going on for some time at the site.  It was causing a problem and the site owner had not engaged with the Council to remedy the situation.  The statement submitted by Clutton Parish Council sums up the frustration felt by local residents.  Cllr Davis supported the return of the site to agricultural land.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Planning Team Manager stated that the seeking of an injunction is an extreme measure, however, in this case the breach has failed to be remedied.  He explained that, although injunctions were not cheap this would be funded by a government grant and there would be the potential for recovery of costs.  Therefore, the action should ultimately be cost-neutral.

Cllr Simmons asked about the potential for land contamination arising from the breaking up of vehicles on the site.  The Case Officer explained that the metal is recycled from the vehicles and that the area is used as a storage site rather than for carrying out work on the vehicles.  Cllr Jackson pointed out that any decontamination required would be the responsibility of the landowner.

She then moved the officer recommendation to seek an injunction as set out in the report.  This was seconded by Cllr Appleyard.

The motion was put to the vote and it was RESOLVED by 9 votes in favour to seek an injunction from the Court, under Section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to restrain the breaches of planning control on the land subject of the enforcement notice and for a breach of condition 2 of planning application no. 08/03492/FUL.

 (Note: Cllr Duncan Hounsell lost connection to the meeting during part of this item and was therefore unable to vote).

The Panel will receive a verbal update on this item from the People and Communities Strategic Director.

The Committee considered the quarterly performance report from January to March 2020.

In response to questions from Cllr Hodge the Planning Team Manager explained that the doubling of planning contravention notices this quarter was not particularly unusual and could be the result of a lag in this work.  He stated that it was difficult to obtain benchmarking data because Local Authorities carried out the triage process in different ways.  If required, however, he could provide a comparison against the national figure.

The Planning Team Manager also explained that the high figure for “other work” carried out between April and June could simply be due to a spike in this type of work and that he could provide a breakdown if required.

RESOLVED to NOTE the report.

The Cabinet Member(s) will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

The Committee considered the appeals report.

RESOLVED to NOTEthe report.