Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Cllr Christopher Newbury

·       Cllr Pip Ridout who was substituted by Cllr Bridget Wayman

·       Cllr James Sheppard

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2022 were presented for consideration, and it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2022.

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

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

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 no later than 10.20am on the day of the meeting. If it is on the day of the meeting registration should be done in person.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are linked to 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. Representatives of Parish Councils are included separately in the speaking procedure, please contact the officer listed for details.

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 Thursday 27 October 2022 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 Monday 31 October 2022. 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 procedures for public participation were detailed and noted.

To receive details of completed and pending appeals, and any other updates as appropriate.

The appeals report in the agenda was detailed.

Head of Development Management, Andrew Guest noted that the Committee had previously requested a report and an update on the 5-year land supply position but updated that this had not been done yet and would potentially take place as training.

Head of Development Management, Andrew Guest referred to a further appeal decision, which had not been included in the report due to the appeal being allowed on 31 October 2022, involving land to the north of Whychurch Farm and to the south of Filands, Malmesbury. It was noted that this appeal covered similar issues to what would be discussed by the Committee during the meeting on 3 November 2022, with it stated by the inspector that Wiltshire Council cannot deliver a 5-year land supply but rather a 4.7-year land supply. The tilted balance was also engaged in this appeal.

The Chairman also referenced two applications in Malmesbury which had been lost at appeal stage, with it stated that the Committee could only look at the planning issue in front of them. It was noted that the instruments available to the Committee to make decisions were the local and neighbourhood plans. The Chairman stated that in the case of these applications the inspector had also felt that in context of the tilted balance that these applications were right to be approved.

In response to the update on planning appeals, the following comments were made, but were not limited to, that the over-delivery of housing in Wiltshire does not seem to be referenced when the 5-year land supply is discussed. The Chairman stated that he had asked for updated figures for the land supply, to which Head of Development Management, Andrew Guest stated that the housing land supply statement is produced annually, with the next update set to be expected in early 2023.

Further comments included statements as to whether or not the council were implementing a strategy to overcome the 5-year housing land supply and that if the Council was to come up with a plan that it might have greater control over strategic developments. Reference was drawn to the Ashton Park development in Trowbridge, with it acknowledged that progress had stalled due to matters relating to Section 106. It was clarified that Wiltshire Council are not the only local authority in this position with the housing land supply and that it could be worth considering in the training what other local authorities are doing to work towards the issue.

Resolved:

To note the update on appeals.

To consider and determine the following planning applications.

The  following planning applications were considered.

Outline planning application for residential development of up to 59 dwellings together with access and associated works. (mix of units to be determined by Reserved Matters) - All matters reserved except access.

Public Participation

Steve Cole spoke in objection to the application.

Keith Millington spoke in objection to the application.

Jeremy Stokes spoke in objection to the application.

Alan Pearce spoke in support of the application.

Alex Wozniczko spoke in support of the application.

Tom Vaughan Jones spoke in support of the application.

Cllr Richard Ormerod spoke on behalf of Devizes Town Council.

Senior Conservation/Planning Officer, Jonathan James presented a report which outlined a planning application for residential development of up to 59 dwellings together with access and associated works. With the mix of units to be determined by Reserved Matters. All matters reserved except access. The planning officer noted that late correspondence had been received but no issues had been raised which had not been included within the report.

The site consisted of several agricultural grassed fields bounded by a mixture of fencing, hedgerow and mature trees. In addition, it was stated that the topography of the land sloped down across the site from east to west, with a plateau in the north/east and which sloped steeply down to the south to the lower paddock. To the east of the site were existing residential properties.

The planning officer presented the slides for the meeting (published as an agenda supplement).The proposed means of access was to the northeast of the site onto John Rennie Close. It was noted that the application has undergone amendments and revisions, including a reduction in number of units from 65 down to 59, following points raised on the scheme. The recommendation before the Council was based on this revised scheme. The planning officer also noted that strategic policies could not be applied to this application in full weight due to the tilted balance.

Reference was drawn to the development limit of Devizes, with it shown that part of the site would lie within the neighbourhood plan and that as the development would be within these limits, it would be policy compliant. Reference was also made that the site would be sustainable due to its walking distance from the town centre, with the scheme also looking to deliver at least 30% affordable housing which would create additional housing, investment locally as well as jobs during the construction phase.

The planning officer referred to the illustrative masterplan provided by the applicant, which highlighted a drainage basin proposed to the southwest and sewage disposal to the north, with all proposed housing removed from a 250m boundary to the sewage works. It was also noted that an odour modelling assessment from Wessex Water and a sniff test had been conducted by appropriately qualified assessors. The officer also noted that in regard to the land, this was identified as grade 1 agricultural with the topography identified as sub-grade 3b.

Concerns about visual impact were acknowledged, with it noted that the view had been agreed by Wiltshire Council’s landscape officer and that over time the impact would decrease to be neutral. Additionally, the Wiltshire Council urban design officer had been satisfied with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

The application seeks consent for residential development of up to 200 dwellings, and:

A local centre of 0.3ha (0.75 acres) (comprising commercial business and service uses (Use Class E), drinking establishment and hot food takeaway (sui generis) with a gross internal floor area limit of 1,000m2 of which no more than 725m2 shall be used for retail (Class E(a)). 

No single retail (Class E(a)) unit shall comprise of more than 325m2 gross internal floor area.

Associated works, infrastructure, ancillary facilities, open space and landscaping.

Vehicular access from Windsor Drive with the western end of Coate Road re-aligned to form the minor arm of a junction with the site access road.

Public Participation

Rod Evans spoke in objection to the application.

Cllr Richard Ormerod spoke on behalf of Devizes Town Council.

Cllr Eric Clark spoke on behalf of Bishops Cannings Parish Council.

Senior Planning Officer, Nick Clark presented a report which outlined an application seeking consent for residential development of up to 200 dwellings, and a local centre of 0.3ha (0.75 acres) (comprising commercial business and service uses (Use Class E), drinking establishment and hot food takeaway (sui generis) with a gross internal floor area limit of 1,000m2 of which no more than 725m2 would be used for retail (Class E(a)). No single retail (Class E(a)) unit shall comprise of more than 325m2 gross internal floor area. Associated works, infrastructure, ancillary facilities, open space and landscaping. Vehicular access from Windsor Drive with the western end of Coate Road re-aligned to form the minor arm of a junction with the site access road.

The site consisted of a triangular plot of farmland forming 2 fields with hedged boundaries, set between the Kennet & Avon Canal to the north and Coate Road to the south, with open farmland to the east. It was noted that there was a c. 2m high raised bund of land within the site running alongside the southern side of the canal and a local overhead power line runs along the line of the bund. On the opposite side of the canal was the residential development of the former Le Marchant Barracks and on the opposite side of Coate Road is farmland and the former slaughterhouse site.

The application site also included adjoining roads as needed for associated road improvements, and in total amounts to an area of 9.82 hectares, within which the two fields accounted for c. 8.54 hectares. The site was outside the recognised Limits of Development for Devizes, with the North Wessex Downs AONB nearby to the east and south-east

The planning officer outlined the planning history of the application, with it noted that the site previously formed part of a larger site that was subject to an ‘Outline planning application for residential development of up to 350 dwellings, local centre of up to 700sqm of class A1 retail use, open space, access roads, cycleway, footpaths, landscaping and associated engineering works’ (E/2013/0083/OUT). Following a public inquiry, the appeal against refusal was dismissed by the Secretary of State on 21st September 2016 (the 2016 decision). The Secretary of State in agreement with the inspector that amongst other reasons there was then no shortfall in 5-year housing land supply, the development would be contrary to policies of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and Devizes Neighbourhood plan.

Attention was drawn to planning balance and the previous appeal, with both the benefits and adverse impacts of the current proposal outlined in relation to the planning balance.

The planning officer drew attention to the addendum to the published report, which made amendments to the conditions that had been previously recommended within the officer’s report.

Members of the Committee had the opportunity to ask  ...  view the full minutes text for item 136.

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.