Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Cllr Philip Whitehead (Chairman), substituted by Cllr Caroline Thomas

·       Cllr Adrian Foster

As the Chairman had sent his apologies the meeting was chaired by the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Paul Oatway QPM.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2025.

On the proposal of the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Paul Oatway QPM, seconded by Cllr Kelvin Nash, it was:

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2025 as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to speak either in favour or against an application or any other item on this agenda are asked to register no later than 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. If it is on the day of the meeting registration should be done in person.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are linked to in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice. The Chairman will allow up to 3 speakers in favour and up to 3 speakers against an application, and up to 3 speakers on any other item on this agenda. Each speaker will be given up to 3 minutes and invited to speak immediately prior to the item being considered.

Members of the public and others will have had the opportunity to make representations on planning applications and other items on the agenda, and to contact and lobby their local elected member and any other members of the planning committee, prior to the meeting.

Those circulating such information prior to the meeting, written or photographic, are advised to also provide a copy to the case officer for the application or item, in order to officially log the material as a representation, which will be verbally summarised at the meeting by the relevant officer, not included within any officer slide presentation if one is made. Circulation of new information which has not been verified by planning officers or case officers is also not permitted during the meetings.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution which excludes, in particular, questions on non-determined planning applications.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Thursday 10 April 2025 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response, questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Monday 14 April 2025. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The committee noted the rules on public participation.

To receive details of the completed and pending appeals, and any other updates as appropriate.

On the proposal of Cllr Caroline Thomas, seconded by Cllr Kelvin Nash, it was:

Resolved

To note the planning appeals update for the period between 14 March and 4 April 2025.

Construction of restaurant extension to rear, internal alterations to create a new kitchen servery hatch, insertion of rear door to kitchen, construction of cellar access, creation of new bay window to front elevation, raising of ceilings in the 3 first floor bedrooms, erection of fence and gates to enclose the bin store, revised parking layout including parking space to front.

Public Participation

·       Mr Mark Cooke – spoke in opposition to the applications

·       Ms Gina Pocock - spoke in opposition to the applications

·       Mrs Sam Wolcough - spoke in opposition to the applications

·       Mr Adrian Gott – spoke in support of the applications

·       Mr Leigh Evans – spoke in support of the applications

·       Mr Steven Abbott (Steven Abbott Associates LLP) – had a statement read out by Mr Gott in support of the applications

·       Cllr Nic Coome (Chairman of Chilton Foliat Parish Council) – spoke in support of the applications

Senior Planning Officer, Helena Carney, introduced a report which recommended that the planning permission and listed building consent applications for alterations to the Wheatsheaf Inn be refused. She explained that the proposed changes would see the construction of an extension to the rear of the Grade II listed property and a bay window to the front. Proposed internal alterations would create a new kitchen serving hatch and raise the ceilings in the three first floor bedrooms.  Externally, it was proposed to make changes to the rear parking layout, create a new space to the front, and erect a fence and gate to enclose the bin storage.  Key issues were stated to include the principle of development, heritage impacts, highway safety and impact on neighbouring amenity.

Attention was drawn to two late representations; a technical note about highway safety provided by the applicant’s representative, which had been published in the agenda supplement, and a further representation from the public. The planning officer confirmed that the representations did not raise new points or change her recommendation.

It was reported that the applications had been amended a number of times to try to address objections raised by highway and heritage officers. The original applications had been altered to remove highway land from the proposals and replace the rear extension with a freestanding pergola. Whilst these changes addressed the objections of the highways officer, they did not address those of the conservation officer and added additional elements of concern. The applicant therefore decided to revert to the original proposals.

The officer explained that the proposals were contrary to Core Policy 57 (Ensuring High Quality Design and Place Shaping) and Core Policy 58 (Ensuring the Conservation of the Historic Environment) of the Wiltshire Core Strategy as well as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Although the harm to the Garde II listed building was judged by the conservation officer as ‘less than substantial’, Paragraph 215 of the NPPF required that the proposed benefits needed to be such that they would justify the harm caused.

Furthermore, the highway officer had found that the site was unable to provide an adequate level of off-street parking for the proposed extensions, meaning that vehicles would be displaced onto the main road, negatively impacting road safety. The proposals were therefore contrary to Core Policies 60 (Sustainable Transport) and 61 (Transport and Development) of the Wiltshire Core Strategy.   

It was emphasised by the planning officer that the local planning authority had supported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.