Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for the meeting were received from:

·       Councillor Sam Charleston

·       Councillor Charles McGrath

·       Councillor Brian Dalton who was substituted by Councillor Trevor Carbin

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20 March 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20 March 2025 were presented.

Resolved:

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes.

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.

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.

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

The committee received details of the appeal decisions as detailed in the agenda.

It was;

Resolved

To note the Appeals Report.

Raising of the existing timber beam above the staircase opening to provide headroom for a stair lift and convert bathroom into a wet room with DDA compliant fixtures & fittings.

Public Participation

Ms Elizabeth Lydia (Applicant) spoke in support of the application

Mr Paul Stevens (Architect), spoke in support of the application

Mr Bob Edwards (Forum Heritage), spoke in support of the application

Cllr Dave Mace of Downton Parish Council spoke to the application.

The Senior Conservation Officer, Jocelyn Sage introduced a report which recommended that the listed building consent for the raising of the existing timber beam above the staircase opening to provide headroom for a stair lift and convert bathroom into a wet room with DDA compliant fixtures & fittings, be Refused.

The main issues for consideration were noted in the report as the effect that the proposed changes would have on the listed building including the raising of the listed beam above the staircase to accommodate a stairlift and the conversion of the existing bathroom into a wet room.

The Officer noted a previous application (PL/2024/08168) for similar works, which included the raising of the timber beam above the staircase opening to provide headroom for a stair lift and convert bathroom into a wet room with DDA compliant fixtures and fittings, which had been refused.

It was noted that Downton Parish Council had supported the previous application, but at the time of the meeting had not met to consider the current application.

In relation to the level of harm, the Officer noted para 208 of the NPPF where it stated that ‘where a development proposal would lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset, this harm should be weighed against the public benefits of the proposal’, further adding that public benefits did not equate with private benefits.

The Officer clarified that the applicant’s Heritage Consultant agreed with the assessment of there being ‘less than substantial harm’ however he disagreed with the assessment of private over public benefit.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. The height difference of the beam between the current and proposed position, once cut and moved, was confirmed as a difference of 200mm.

The Officer also confirmed that whilst she had not held discussions with the applicants regarding the use of the downstairs extension as an alternative option, it was suggested that this may have been discussed with the previous case officer.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to present their views to the committee as detailed above.

Points raised included the applicants medical need for the stairlift due to associated impairments following a stroke and that installing the stairlift would enable the applicants to access the upstairs bathroom and bedrooms which would enable them to continue living in their home.

It was clarified that in the proposals, once the stairlift was no longer needed, it would be removed, and the beam would be reinstated to the original place.

The Committee heard that whilst cutting through a heritage timber was not to be taken lightly, in this instance, as the property was a home, not a monument, it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

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