Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Russell Hawker, Cllr Peter Fuller and Cllr Anthony Trotman.

Cllr Trotman was substituted by Cllr Leo Randall. 

The Committee noted that Cllr Charles Howard was a new member of the Strategic Planning Committee, replacing Philip Brown.

Cllr John Brady and Cllr Chris Cochrane were also present.

Cllr Bill Moss and Cllr Ian MacLennan were present as local ward members.

The minutes of the meeting held on 07 July 2010 and the meeting held on 21 July 2010 were presented

Resolved:

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 07 July and 21 July.

None

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

The Chairman outlined the procedure for public participation.

The Committee received a presentation from the Planning Officer which set out the main issues in respect of the application put before them. Members’ attention was drawn to two pieces of late correspondence outlining objections to the application.

A site visit had taken place on Monday 14^th February in respect of this application, which had been attended by Cllr Andrew Davis, Cllr Christine Crisp, Cllr Charles Howard, Cllr Chris Humphries, Cllr Julian Johnson and Cllr Leo Randall.

Also in attendance was Cllr Moss (local member).

There followed a number of technical questions to officers wherein the following points were highlighted:

ü  No ‘zone’ of protection existed around Old Sarum in planning, other than statutory measures concurrent with its status as a listed monument.

ü  The flats/apartments forming the gateway entries to areas of the development were confirmed as roughly 12metres or 3-storeys high.

ü  The emerging core strategy (to be debated and voted upon at Council on 22^nd February 2011), was a material consideration, however the officer was not in a position to advise how much weight should be given to it.

ü  Crossings bisecting Green Lane were available for pedestrians and cyclists.

ü  The bulk of the houses were designed to a Code Level 3 standard (following the code for sustainable homes).

ü  There are reservations about the position and spread of the affordable homes provision in respect of the north-south axis.

Public Participation:

Mrs Elizabeth Antony, spoke in objection to the application

Mr Frank Palmer spoke in objection to the application

Mr Steve Hannath spoke in objection to the application

Mr Chris Rees, Agent, spoke in support of the application

Mr Ron Champion, Chairman, Laverstock and Ford Parish Council spoke in objection to the proposal.

Cllr Ian MacLennan, local Wiltshire Council member for Laverstock and Ford spoke in objection to the proposal citing a number of concerns summarised below:

·         The loss of land means the loss of the strategic gap between the edge of Salisbury suburbs and the village of Ford.

·         The rural / farmland nature of the land makes development on such a large scale out-of-character and invasive.

·         The local community including the Parish Councillor do not object to development in the general sense, rather they in fact feel they have taken their fair share of the burden of need.

·         Provision of the Country Park should not be conditional on the granting of 500 houses; in fact the land should remain in its current rural state.

Cllr Bill Moss, local Wiltshire Council member for Salisbury St Marks and Bishopdown, spoke in objection to the proposal citing a number of concerns:

·         Residential use of a rural site

·         Questionable necessity of the housing given the depressed economic climate

·         Insufficient/unsatisfactory infrastructure to support the development

·         Other large developments underway nearby at Old Sarum and Long Hedge

Debate

The Chairman explained that as usual the Committee’s role in this case was to consider the merits of the application, but as it had been referred to appeal on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.