Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from:

·       Cllr Philip Whitehead, who attended only his capacity as Unitary Division Member, substituted by Cllr James Sheppard

·       Cllr Kelvin Nash, substituted by Cllr Dominic Muns

·       Cllr Sam Pearce-Kearney

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2023.

On the proposal of the Vice-Chairman, seconded by Cllr Wallis, it was:

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 22 June 2023,  as a true and correct record.  

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

Cllr Wallis made an additional declaration in relation to Item 7, that the worked in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs but would be speaking in a personal capacity. 

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 minutes before the start 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.

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 6 July 2023 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 10 July 2023. 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.

There was no public participation.

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

On the proposal of the Vice-Chairman, seconded by Cllr Sheppard, it was:

Resolved

To note the report on completed and ending appeals.

Erection of a cattle barn.

Public Participation

·       Mr Terry Fell JP (President of Devizes Angling Association) spoke in objection to the application.

·       Dr Joe Scarffe spoke in objection to the application.

·       Dr Alex Cooper spoke in objection to the application.

·       Mr Andrew Watton (Bourne Valley Associates) spoke in support of the application.

·       Mr Mark Whiteman spoke in favour of the application.

·       Mr Miles Elderfield spoke in support of the application.

·       Cllr Chris Lawrence, Chairman of Stert Parish Council, spoke in objection to the application.

The Planning Officer, Lucy Rutter-Dowd, introduced a report which recommended that the application for the erection of a cattle barn be approved. Key considerations were stated to include the principal of development, landscape, visual, environmental, highway and ecological impact as well as impact on neighbouring amenity.

The Planning Officer explained that the application complied with Core Policy 34 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy (additional employment land) and noted that the barn would be used for the purposes of farming and food production. The proposal was considered acceptable in terms of its surroundings complying with Core Policy 51 (landscape) and Core Policy 57 (high quality design and place shaping) of the Wiltshire Core Strategy. It was considered that there would be no impact on neighbour amenity in terms of scale, loss of privacy, overbearing impact or overshadowing. In addition, no objections had been raised in terms of highway safety and capacity.

It was reported that Wiltshire Council’s ecologist had revised their initial assessment after receiving additional photographic evidence of the site. Conditions had been included in the recommendation in line with their comments.

Attention was drawn to a number of letters received in relation to the application. The Planning Officer clarified that comments made from those living outside of Stert could be considered.

In response to technical questions by the Committee, it was confirmed that the proposed development was located in a nitrate vulnerable zone. The Planning Officer also clarified that the stipulation of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 preventing the erection of barns within 400 metres of a protected building, only applied to schemes being built under permitted development. The applicant would be entitled to build a barn in a different location, at least 400 metres from residential dwellings under permitted development, which may have a greater impact on the local ecology and landscape.

Senior Conservation and Planning Officer Ruaridh O’Donoghue clarified that the issue of drainage would not be a planning issue but would be covered by separate legislation and enforced through the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs. The nearest stream was approximately 300 metres, two fields away, from the proposed development site.

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

The Unitary Division Member, Cllr Philip Whitehead, stated that he would not be supporting the application. Cllr Whitehead explained that he had consulted with the Monitoring Officer about whether it would be appropriate to have Chaired the meeting after he had become aware of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

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.