Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Pat Aves, Nick Blakemore, Brian Dalton, Tony Deane, Chris Devine, Stewart Dobson, Bill Douglas, Bob Jones, Christopher Newbury, Nina Phillips, Sheila Parker, James Sheppard, Ian Thorn and Roy While.

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

In inviting declarations of disclosable interests, the Chairman reminded members of the letter of advice previously circulated by the Monitoring Officer.

In the context of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and in the interests of transparency, the following councillors declared that they were directors or non-executive directors of the following housing associations, noting that this was not a disclosable pecuniary interest in the subject under consideration, given the strategic nature and purpose of the core strategy, and they would therefore be participating in the consideration and voting on it:

Councillors John Noeken, Bridget Wayman, Magnus Macdonald and Richard Britton - directors of Selwood Housing Association; and

Councillor Richard Clewer - Astor Group Housing Association.

(A)           NEW YEAR’S HONOURS LIST

Awarded an OBE

Mr Ian Elgy, for services in support of Military Operations.

Mr James Adam Robertson Ernest Ward, for services to Law and Order in the South West and service to the community.

Awarded an MBE

Mr David John Ashmore, for services to Housing in the South West of England.

Mr (Gordon Arthur) Hector Cole, for services to Heritage Crafts.

Mr Patrick Hallgate, for services to the Economy in the South West.

Mrs Margaret Williams, for services to the Anglican Diocese of Bristol and to the community in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Awarded a BEM (Medal of the Order of the British Empire)

Mr John Edward Davies, for services to Cricket in Bishops Cannings and to the community in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Mrs Joy Hicks, for services to charity in Melksham, Wiltshire.

The Chair registered the Council’s congratulations to those who had received honours.

(B)           CHANGE TO DATE OF JULY COUNCIL MEETING

The Chairman asked Councillors to note that the date of the July Council meeting had been changed from 28 July to 14 July 2015.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.  As this is an extraordinary meeting convened specifically to consider the Adoption of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and in accordance with the Council’s constitution, questions, statements and petitions can only be accepted in respect of this item.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public  received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) no later than 5pm on 13 January 2014. Please contact the officer named on the first page 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 Councillors prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

A number of statements were made as follows:

The Chairman drew the meeting’s attention to the statements made by Mr Michael Sprules, as previously circulated and attached as an appendix to these mminutes.  Mr Sprules thanked the meeting for allowing the submission of these statements and, having no additional comments to make, asked that these be taken into account by Council.

Mr Malcolm Toogood stated that he hoped that sufficient protection would be given to the A350 as a boundary to development in Chippenham, and expressed concern that proposals to amend the Town Council boundary may have a detrimental effect on this protection.

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Member, replied that whilst his comments were noted, the review of parish boundaries did not impact on the Core Strategy.

Mr Daniel Gerber drew the meeting’s attention to concerns he had with the policy on Sustainable Energy.

Cllr Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member, in response, stated that as the issues raised related to an extant planning application, it would not, therefore, be appropriate for him to comment further.

No petitions have been received for presentation to this meeting.

No petitions had been received for presentation to this meeting.

No motions have been received for this meeting.

No notices of motion had been received for presentation to this meeting.

Please note that Councillors are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the first page of this agenda (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) not later than 5pm on 13 January 2014. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

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

No Councillor’s questions had been received for presentation to this meeting.

Report by Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director including the Inspector’s Report

Supporting documentation and maps can be accessed via the following link, which you can click on or copy into your browser address line:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/wiltshirecorestrategy/submissionofwiltshirecorestrategy/corestrategydocuments.htm?directory=Adoption

If you have any queries accessing documents, please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda.

TheCouncil had received the Inspector’sReport into theexamination of the WiltshireCoreStrategyDevelopment Plan Document (DPD).  It concluded that,subjectto the changes setout in the Report, the submitted Core Strategy was sound.The Inspector’sReport wasfinal and the examination was now closed. This left thisauthority with the choice of adopting theCore Strategy,as amendedin responseto the Inspector’srecommendations,or not.

Uponadoption, the Core Strategywould become part of the statutorydevelopmentplan for Wiltshireandthe authority would be legally bound to take planning decisions in accordance with its policies unless there were other material considerations which merit setting them aside in any given case. It set out key strategic planning policies for managing sustainable development across the county.

The Chairman referred members to the officer’s report, the inspector’s report and the various documents and plans as circulated.  He reiterated the purpose of the item: namely that it was for Council to consider the Cabinet’s recommendation on adoption of the Wiltshire Core Strategy from its meeting on 16 December 2014.  The resulting draft minute of cabinet was included in the documentation before Council. 

The Chairman advised members on the approach that he would be taking, on legal advice, in dealing with potential amendments. He explained that:

Any amendment that would affect the policies would invalidate the Plan and would therefore negate a motion to adopt the plan. Any such amendment would therefore be rejected in accordance with paragraph 100 of part 4 of the constitution.

The Chairman called upon Councillor Toby Sturgis,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Appendix – Statements from member of the public