Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

• Councillor Suzanne Wickham, who was substituted by Councillor Mike Sankey

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2024.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 July 2024 were considered. Following which, it was:

Resolved:

The Committee approved and signed the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 July 2024 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 specific Chairman’s 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 Wednesday 31 July 2024 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 Friday 2 August 2024. 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 Chairman explained the rules of public participation and the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

There were no questions or statements submitted by Councillors or members of the public.

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

The Chairman invited Gen Collins, Principal Planning Officer, to update the Committee on the pending and determined appeals as per the appeals report included within the Agenda Pack.

The three determined appeals were detailed, with Members being informed of the successful defence of all three. Particular reference was made to application PL/2022/07850 pertaining to proposed highway access from the A36, drive, hardstanding, and erection of a double garage in which it was found that the erection of the double garage was considered as appropriate development in the green belt, but the engineering works associated with the proposed driveway was not by virtue of its visibility from public areas and additional volume.

Mr Francis Morland then presented a statement to the Committee under public participation where the appeal decision for application PL/2023/06416 was highlighted alongside the impacts to Wiltshire regarding the 30 July 2024 announcement in which the new Labour Government published a draft revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which would be available for consultation until 24 September 2024.

In response, officers acknowledged the potential far-reaching consequences across the planning industry if the consultation paper were to be passed, however it was emphasised that as it was only at the consultation stage, the Council’s position had not changed, and the Housing Land Supply was in line with the current adopted NPPF. Furthermore, it was officers’ understanding that the Government were aiming to publish a revised NPPF by the end of 2024, at which point the implications to Wiltshire could be assessed and a statement would be published on the Council website alongside a detailed briefing note for Members.

Following which, it was:

Resolved:

The Committee noted the appeals report for the period 21 June 2024 to 26 July 2024.

Redevelopment of former day care centre (Class F.1) comprising: the erection of 48 No. dwellings and associated access and landscaping works).

Gen Collins, Principal Planning Officer, presented a report which recommended that the Committee delegated authority to the Head of Development Management to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of a former day care centre (Class F. 1) comprising of the erection of 48 no. dwellings and associated access and landscaping works, subject to conditions and informatives, following the completion of a Section 106 agreement to secure the matters set out in the report.

The background to the application was detailed, including the previous referral to the Committee on 28 September 2022. In recognition that the S106 agreement was still outstanding, and no decision had been issued, the application had been brought back for fresh consideration by Members in light of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2023 and related revised Planning Practice Guidance in February 2024. Attention was drawn to an error in the report under Section 2 which stated that the application had previously been considered by the Strategic Planning Committee instead of the Western Area Planning Committee. Furthermore, it was clarified that the applicant was Stone Circle Development Company Ltd, an independent entity, with Wiltshire Council being a stakeholder. Stephen James, Senior Planning Solicitor for the Council, advised that there was no conflict of interest in that regard and as such, the application could and should be decided by the Western Area Planning Committee.

The key material considerations as a result of the revised NPPF were identified including the principle of development and the weight to be afforded to Core Policies 1 and 2 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy, the current Housing Land Supply position, and consequences for the ‘planning balance’.

There being no technical questions or comments from Members of the Committee, no named public speakers, and no comments from the Local Unitary Member, a motion to delegate authority to the Head of Development Management to grant planning permission, subject to the signing of a S106 agreement, in line with officer recommendations was moved by Councillor Stewart Palmen and was seconded by Councillor Ernie Clark.

Following a vote on the motion, it was:

Resolved:

The Committee delegated authority to the Head of Development Management to GRANT planning permission subject to the conditions and informatives listed below following the completion of a s106 agreement to secure the matters also set out below:

S106 Heads of Terms

Affordable Housing: Core Policy 43 ‘Providing Affordable Housing’ of the WCS requires 30% affordable housing in this location (i.e. 14 affordable homes). The Council’s Housing Enabling team indicated that a tenure split of 60% affordable rented homes (8 homes) and 40% shared ownership homes (6 homes) will be required.

Public Open Space: Policy CP3 of the WCS and Saved policy LP4 ‘Providing Recreation facilities in New Developments’ of the former West Wiltshire Local Plan requires developments to provide recreational open space. The POS team indicated that a development of 48 dwellings generates a requirement for 1359m² of casual open space, 56.64m² of play space and 1132m² for sports.

Open  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Demolition of the existing care home with replacement building providing 9 bedrooms on lower ground floor, 9 bedrooms on ground floor and 14 bedrooms on first floor, all with auxiliary space and together with the existing home would provide 52 bedrooms total and associated works (Resubmission of PL/2021/10237).

Public Participation

• Mr Eric Anderson, local resident, spoke in objection to the application.
• Ms Claire Sweeney, together with the applicant, spoke in support of the application.
• Ms Melissa Magee, together with the applicant, spoke in support of the application.
• Mr Ashley Jones, applicant, spoke in support of the application.

David Cox, Senior Planning Officer, presented a report which recommended that the Committee refused the application for the demolition of the existing care home with replacement building providing 9 bedrooms on the lower ground floor, 9 bedrooms on the ground floor, and 14 bedrooms on the first floor, all with auxiliary space which together with the existing home would provide 52 bedrooms total and associated works. It was confirmed that this was the resubmission of application PL/2021/10237.

The background to the application was detailed, including the previous referral to the Committee on 18 January 2023 which resulted in a refusal against officer recommendations, and subsequent dismissed appeal. Furthermore, it was clarified that when considering the site’s planning history, the subsequent amendments to the proposal, and in the context of the applicant’s assertion that the long-term viability of the care home would be threatened in the event of the proposal not securing planning permission, officers had been directed by the Corporate Director for Place to bring the application back to the Committee for determination. 

Key material considerations were identified including the principle of development; the scale and design of the proposal and its impact on street scene; impacts on neighbouring amenity; impacts on non-designated heritage assets; and drainage, ecological, and highway impacts.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions to the officer. Clarity was sought on how the recent proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) could impact any Planning Inspector’s decisions at future appeals, specifically in the context of the Housing Land Supply if Members were minded to refuse the application in line with officer recommendations, and when considering the previous dismissed appeal. Officers reiterated that the reforms were proposals only with little to no weight to be attached and that the proposed changes would be available for public consultation until 24 September 2024. However, if the proposed alterations to the Housing Land Supply were to be confirmed, the position in terms of planning balance would not have materially changed from the context in which the previous appeal decision was decided as the perceived harm to No. 6 Littlebrook outweighed the weight given to Wiltshire Council’s Housing Land Supply position, thus leading to minimal ramifications.

The named public speakers as detailed above then had the opportunity to present their views to the Committee.

Councillor Trevor Carbin, as the Local Unitary Member, then spoke to the application and thanked officers for their hard work and effort on the current proposal and previous iterations.

A debate then followed where Members acknowledged the concerns raised by neighbouring residents and the impact that the alterations to the footprint and massing of the proposal would have on these residents.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

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.