Public participation
Paul Grace, Marlborough College, spoke in
objection to the application
Celia Hicks, Preshute primary school, spoke in objection to the
application
Paul Rogers, resident, spoke in support of the
application
Peter May, resident, spoke in support of the
application
Ian Mellor, the applicant, spoke in support of
the application
The chairman reminded members of the public
that the purpose of the meeting was to determine whether to request
a non-statutory independent inquiry, and not to determine the
outcome of the application itself.
Sarah Marshall, senior
solicitor, explained that the Committee in considering this matter
and making a decision would be operating in their Regulatory
function and therefore as regulatory committee of the commons
registration authority, and not as a planning committee or a land
owner.
The rights of way officer, Sally Madgwick,
introduced the application which was for the registration of a
village green. She explained that as the land in question was owned
by Wiltshire Council, case law suggested that it should be referred
to an independent inspector who would then advise the
committee.
In response to a question about
the legal implications of determining the application, the officer
explained that the decision would have to be based only on the
evidence before the committee and not on the potential other uses
for the land. It was explained that the committee could make any
decision that it deemed fit but that the officers report presented
at this meeting did not provide sufficient and appropriate detailed
evidence and that should the members be minded to determine the
application they would be advised to do this at a later meeting
upon considering the evidence and receiving more information on the
application.
Members of the public were then invited to
speak as detailed above.
Cllr Mark Connolly, seconded by Cllr Nick
Fogg, moved to appoint an independent Inspector to
hold a non-statutory public inquiry, as recommended in the
report.
In the debate that followed, issues covered
included: that members were very appreciative of so many members of
the public attending the meeting; that having heard the legal
aspects of the application it would not be sensible to determine
the application without first holding an inquiry; that it was
likely that choosing the first option in the report would lead to
the second option being advocated; that future plans for the site
were irrelevant to the decision in hand; and that it was important
to appoint someone who was independent and transparent.
Following the debate, it was
Resolved:
To appoint an independent Inspector to hold a
non-statutory public inquiry and provide an advisory report for the
Eastern Area Planning Committee on the application to register land
as a town or village green in Barton Park/College Fields,
Marlborough.