Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dennis Drewett, Gordon King, Jonathon Seed and Magnus Macdonald.

Councillor Drewett was substituted by Councillor Terry Chivers.

Councillor Macdonald was substituted by Councillor Gordon King.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2014 were presented.

Resolved:

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the meeting held on the 3^rd September 2014.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no Chairman’s Announcements.

The Chairman gave details of the exits to be used in the event of an emergency.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

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 in person no later than 2.50pm on the day of the meeting.

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. The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are detailed in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice.

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 (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) no later than 5pm on Wednesday 17 September. 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.

No questions had been received from councillors or members of the public.

The Chairman welcomed all present. He then explained the rules of public participation and the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

To consider and determine the following planning applications:

The Committee considered the following application:

Public Participation:

Charles Potterton spoke in objection to the application.

Christopher Morley spoke in objection to the application.

Sarah Morley spoke in objection to the application.

Peter Mclaren spoke in support of the application.

Anthony Fuller spoke in support of the application.

Adam Tucker spoke in support of the application.

John Kirkman spoke as a consultee on behalf of CPRE in objection to the

application.

The Planning Officer outlined the report which recommended the application for approval subject to conditions. The site description and an overview of the proposed development were also given. The Planning Officer outlined the relevant planning policy, consultation and relevant planning considerations. The Senior Landscape and Design Officer gave more detail in respect to the applications impact on the landscape. In response to a question, officers gave more detail regarding the views of one of the consultees, namely English Hertiage.

Members of the public were invited to speak on the application as listed above.

Councillor Terry Chivers, as the local member, spoke in objection to the application. The main issues were noted as: the level of objection in the community, highways issues, and cumulative effect. The debate focused on the impact of the proposed development on the character of the area. A motion was put forward to refuse the application. At the end of the debate it was;

Resolved

To refuse planning permission for the following reasons:

1.     The proposal by reason of its size and scale would result in a dominant and uncharacteristic form of development which introduces a series of uncharacteristic utilitarian structures across the open field together with security fencing and cameras causing unacceptable visual harm to the landscape character and appearance of the site and the wider landscape setting.  This would conflict with policies C1 and C34 of the West Wiltshire District Plan (1^st Alteration) and with policies CP42(i) and CP51 of the emerging Core Strategy (April 2014 tracked changes version) and with the Government’s Planning Policy guidance that recognises that large scale solar farms can have a damaging effect on the landscape.

In response to a request the following votes were recorded in favour of the resolution to refuse permission: Councillors Ernie Clark, Terry Chivers and John Knight.

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