Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllr Christopher Newbury.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2021 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes 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 Chairman’s announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public. During the

ongoing Covid-19 situation the Council is operating revised procedures

Statements

Members of the public who wish to submit a statement in relation to an item on this agenda should submit this in writing to the officer named on this agenda no later than 5pm on 4 October 2021.

Submitted statements should:

·       State whom the statement is from (including if representing another person or organisation);

·       State clearly whether the statement is in objection to or support of the application;

·       Be readable aloud in approximately three minutes (for members of the public and statutory consultees) and in four minutes (for parish council representatives – 1 per parish council).

Up to three objectors and three supporters are normally allowed for each item on the agenda, plus statutory consultees and parish councils.

Those submitting statements would be expected attend the meeting to read the statement themselves, or to provide a representative to read the statement on their behalf.

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 electronically to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 29 September 2021 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 1 October 2021.

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 members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website. Questions and answers will normally be taken as read at the meeting.

The rules on public participation were noted.

Provision for 91 dwellings, ecological mitigation and associated infrastructure including roads/footpaths, bridge, cycleway, garages and sub-station

Public Participation

Jody Hawkes spoke in objection to the application

Stephen Cooper spoke in objection to the application.

Tony Jones spoke in support of the application.

Alexander Bullock spoke in support of the application.

Lance Allen representing Trowbridge Town Council spoke in objection to the application.

Andrew Guest, Major Projects & Performance Manager, presented a report which recommended that planning permission be refused for the provision for 91 dwellings, ecological mitigation and associated infrastructure including roads/footpaths, bridge, cycleway, garages and sub-station.

Key details were stated to include the principle of residential development at the site, highway safety, residential amenity, ecology, drainage and infrastructure provision.

The officer referred the Committee to the agenda report and took them through the slides for the application. It was noted that for planning purposes, the application site formed part of the much wider ‘Ashton Park Urban Extension’ allocated site. The allocation was for c. 2,600 dwellings, employment land and related infrastructure.

Particular attention was given to the access for the site to construction traffic and permanently through the Southview estate, Toucan Street and Sparrow Street which were minor residential roads. The Highways Officer raised objections to the application due to the inadequacies of the residential roads within these estates to accommodate additional traffic, and in particular construction traffic, leading to potential safety and amenity issues. Many objections had also been received regarding this aspect of the proposal.

As a standalone site with an independent vehicular access via the adjacent suburbs, the proposal was not considered to be acceptable as it would change the character of these suburbs and the dynamics of their communities, to the detriment of residential amenity and, potentially, highway safety. Therefore, the application was recommended for refusal.

No technical questions were asked of the officer.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to present their views, as detailed above.

The unitary division member, Councillor Daniel Cave, spoke in objection to the application. Cllr Cave stated that he was not objecting to the new housing being built but to the inappropriate highways access. It was stated that large vehicles had been brought through the residential estate in the past which had caused problems. Part of the proposed traffic management plan included temporarily stopping residents parking outside their homes, which was considered unacceptable. It was stated that route would become a rat run to the over 2000 dwellings allocated for the ‘Ashton Park Urban Extension’. Many locals objected to the application and Cllr Cave urged the Committee to refuse the application on Highways grounds.

Cllr Ernie Clark proposed a motion to refuse the application for the reasons stated at pages 29-30 of the report, as per the officer recommendation. This was seconded by Cllr Pip Ridout.

A debate followed where comments from Members included that there was a lack of a master plan for this site, which was far from ideal. That it was understood that planning permission would likely be granted at some point on the site due to its allocation,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Proposed development of Silverwood School, extending the existing Rowde Campus (formerly Rowdeford School) to provide a high quality SEND school campus for 350 students including the construction of a new two storey education building with new Hydrotherapy Pool, teaching classrooms and Main Hall, the development of existing buildings, new all-weather sports pitch, new playing fields, on-site parking, landscaping, ecological enhancements and associated works

The Chairman stated that the Committee were not determining the whys and wherefores of SEND provision, as that had been determined previously, but were just to determine the application before them.

Public Participation

Anthony Dixon spoke in support of the application.

Sean McKeown spoke in support of the application.

Cllr Jane Davies spoke in support of the application.

Andrew Guest, Major Projects and Performance Manager presented a report which recommended that subject to Natural England first agreeing the Appropriate Assessment required by the Habitat Regulations, that the application be approved, subject to the conditions as listed at pages 140 – 144 of the agenda, with conditions 5, 6 and 7 being replaced by the conditions in agenda supplement 2 for the proposed development of Silverwood School, extending the existing Rowde Campus (formerly Rowdeford School) to provide a high quality SEND school campus for 350 students including the construction of a new two storey education building with new Hydrotherapy Pool, teaching classrooms and Main Hall, the development of existing buildings, new all-weather sports pitch, new playing fields, on-site parking, landscaping, ecological enhancements and associated works.

The officer explained that as stated in the report the application was coming to the Committee in the interests of transparency of decision making as it was a Wiltshire Council application.

The application was to develop the existing school to provide a high-quality SEND permanent school campus for 350 students as described above. There had been concerns raised regarding the impact on ecology at the site, however the Wiltshire Council ecologist was happy with the proposed mitigation as there would be a net gain.

Members of the committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer.

Details were sought on the lifts within the two-storey building and whether an impact assessment had been undertaken as required by the Equalities Act 2010. The officer stated that these were matters for buildings regulations rather than the planning application, it was also explained that the upstairs rooms would not be used as classrooms but as staff facilities. The officer confirmed that there was not an impact assessment with the planning application, but there was no requirement for one at this stage, it would come later under the building regulations, and the building had been designed with access in mind. The Chairman suggested that if the Committee were minded to approve the application, an informative could be added to ensure these points were considered. The officer confirmed that this would be possible.

In response to a question regarding how many EV charging points the site would have it was stated that there would be EV charging points, but exact numbers where not known. Details were sought on the sports facilities and it was explained that the site would have a kick about area and a full suite of sports facilities.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to present their views, as detailed above.

A debate followed where the Committee discussed at length the carbon footprint  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Renovation of Grade II Listed Melksham House, with demolition of modern single storey extensions to rear and construction of a new roof extension to provide internal lift access.

Public Participation

No members of the public spoke to the application.

Andrew Guest, Major Projects and Performance Manager, presented a report which recommended that planning permission be granted with conditions for the renovation of Grade II Listed Melksham House, with demolition of modern single storey extensions to rear and construction of a new roof extension to provide internal lift access.

The officer explained that as stated in the report the application was coming to the Committee in the interests of transparency of decision making as it was a Wiltshire Council application.

Key considerations were stated to include the following the principle, the heritage impacts, highway safety and residential amenity.

Members of the committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. In response the officer stated that there were 47 parking spaces and 4 of these would have an EV charging point and at present there was no planning policy regarding provision of EV charging points. It was explained however that the infrastructure (cabling and trunking) for up to 10 EV points would be installed so there was the possibility that more could be added. In response to further questions the officer stated that there were no highways objection to the application and that conditions regarding demolition would form part of the listed building consent.

The unitary division member, Cllr Jon Hubbard, spoke in support of the application. He spoke first in representation of Malmesbury Town Council who were in favour of the application. There were questions raised regrading whether the EV points would be phase 3 electrics, which were super-fast. This was something the Town Council would like to be see. Speaking next in his role as unitary division member, Cllr Hubbard stated that he supported the application and wanted the building brought back in to use, in a viable and sustainable way.

In response to statements the officer stated that an informative could be added encouraging the use of phase 3 super-fast EV charging points. There was currently no policy covering this so a condition could not be added.

The Chairman proposed a motion to approve the application, with the conditions at pages 161-164 of the agenda, as per the officer recommendation, with the addition of an informative regarding super-fast EV charging points, the final wording of which would be delegated to the officer. This was seconded by Cllr Pip Ridout. 

At the conclusion of the debate, it was,

Resolved:

That planning permission be granted with the following conditions:

1.    The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

REASON: To comply with the provisions of Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

2.    The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans:

10106L(9)001 - Location Plan

10106L(9)002G - Proposed Site Plan

10106L(9)003 - Proposed Site Plan Demolition

10106L(  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

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.