Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from:

·       Cllr Paul Oatway QPM

·       Cllr Philip Whitehead (Local Division Member)

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2020 were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved

To approve 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.

The Chairman explained the procedure should a recess be required.

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

ongoing Covid-19 situation the Council is operating revised procedures and the public are able to participate in meetings online after registering with the officer named on this agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines below.

Guidance on how to participate in this meeting online

Access the online meeting here

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 Tuesday 2 December 2020.

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 to join the online meeting to read the statement themselves, or to provide a representative to read the statement on their behalf.

Statements will be read out by those who have registered and provided a statement, in order of submission.

For further details on Public Participation, please see the Remote Planning Committee Procedure.

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 26 November 2020 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 30 November 2020.

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 Chairman detailed the procedure for the meeting and the procedures for public participation which were set out at item 5 of the agenda.

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

Resolved

To note the report on completed and pending appeals.

To consider and determine the following planning application.

The following planning application was considered.

Retention of new access track in its current form.

Public Participation

Lara Clark spoke in objection to the application.

Simon Rodwell spoke in objection to the application.

Martin Crabb spoke in objection to the application.

Cllr Mervyn Woods, Chairman of Etchilhampton Parish Council spoke in objection to the application.

Jonathan James (Senior Planning Officer) presented a report which recommended that planning permission be granted with a condition for the retention of new access track in its current form.

Some late correspondence had been received in objection to the application, however no new issues were raised that were not already addressed in the agenda report.

The officer explained that the site was located in the open countryside between the hamlets of Etchilhampton and All Cannings. The site was within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The application was retrospective and was for the retention of an access track in its current form on the applicants land and the track was used for agricultural purposes. The track was approximately 598 metres long and 4.5 metres wide. It was composed of graded compacted stone. The officer stated that all comments received had been taken into consideration when making a recommendation on the application.

Slides were shown to the meeting which could also be seen in agenda supplement 1. The slides showed location maps of the track and photographs of the track. These showed the nature of the track, being composed of compacted stone. The track was already starting to soften into the landscape with grass encroaching on either side. Two of the photos showed that a section of the track (approximately 50 metres long) appeared to have been covered with builder’s rubble. A photo showed that the access track was well screened by existing trees and hedgerows.

The officer stated that the principle of development for an agricultural track across agricultural land, in this location was considered acceptable. There were no issues in relation to flood risk or ecology and the potential for visual harm had been explored and found to be negligible. Highway safety concerns and issues regarding increased traffic had been raised and were acknowledged. However, the farm traffic existed prior to the access track and the track itself did not generate more traffic. Therefore, the application was recommended for approval.     

Members of the committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. Details were sought on the location of the access to the track at Shortlands Lane which was explained to the committee. It was explained that the new access to the land created opposite Manor Land Farm was unauthorised and had been passed to the Enforcement Team.

It was clarified that the AONB, Natural England and the Environment Agency had been given opportunity to comment and it would be fair to say that as they had not commented they did not object.

Regarding the County Ecologists comments that the track should be permeable a Member stated that there appeared to be puddles, therefore would it be possible to impose as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

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.