Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:-

Cllr Ernie Clark, who was substituted by Cllr Graham Wright

Cllr Stewart Dobson, who was substituted by Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling

Cllr Christopher Newbury

Cllr James Sheppard, who was substituted by Cllr David Halik 

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2017. (Copy attached)

Resolved:

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2017.

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

There were no 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 by phone, email or in person no later than 10.20am on the day of the meeting.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are detailed 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 will have had the opportunity to make representations on the planning applications and to contact and lobby their local member and any other members of the planning committee prior to the meeting. Lobbying once the debate has started at the meeting is not permitted, including the circulation of new information, written or photographic which have not been verified by planning officers.

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 4 October 2017 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 6 October 2017. 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 rules of public participation were noted.

A report by the Case Officer is attached.

Public Participation

Mr D Maytum, a local resident spoke against certain aspects of the application.

The Committee received a presentation from the Case Officer which set out the issues in respect of the application, with a recommendation that Planning permission be granted, subject to conditions.

Members then had the opportunity to ask technical questions after which they heard a statement from a member of the public as detailed above, expressing his views regarding the planning application.

Members then hear the views of Cllr Graham Wright, the local Member, who stated that whilst he supported the development, there were certain aspects of the application in which he had reservations.  He appreciated that there was not an ideal route for construction traffic to access the site and considered that the consultation held with the Town Council and local residents was inadequate and confusing. However, he was impressed that the Council was quick to respond to requests for further information.  He reported that the Highway Authority had only recently stated that it raised no objections to construction traffic entering and exiting the site via The Ham from the north rather than via Recreation Road to the south of the site. It was noted that the College Principal had given an undertaking to ensure that students would not enter the college site via The Ham and Members requested that notices be erected in the vicinity prohibiting access to the College from The Ham.  

During discussion, Members expressed concern that the Construction Traffic Management Plan could not be finalised until a contractor had been appointed and also stressed the need for it to be monitored when agreed by the Planning Authority and implemented.  Members were informed that this would be easier to enforce as the applicant was the Local Authority.

Reference was also made to the projected delay in implementing Phase 2 of the development but it was suggested that as this proposal was part of the Army Rebasing Programme, the additional accommodation would be needed quite shortly in order to accommodate children returning abroad and therefore would be constructed promptly. The officers were requested to try and achieve a shorter time scale for the construction of the development.

Cllr Wright also requested that once the construction work had been completed, consideration be given by the Highway Authority to improving conditions in The Ham, including investigation of proposals for designation as a ‘Quiet Lane’ or similar.

On the proposal of Cllr Andrew Davis, which was seconded by Cllr Derek Brown OBE,

Resolved:

To grant planning permission, subject to the following conditions:-

To note that the next meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday 8 November 2017, starting at 10.30am, in the Council Chamber at County Hall, Trowbridge.

Resolved:

To note that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to be held on Wednesday 8 November 2017, starting at 10.30am, in the Council Chamber at County Hall, Trowbridge.

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

There were no items of urgent business.