Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Cllr Iain Wallis, who attended only in his capacity as the Local Unitary Division Member, substituted by Cllr Dominic Muns.

·       Cllr Anthony Pickernell, substituted by Cllr Caroline Thomas.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2023.

On the proposal of the Chairman, Cllr Philip Whitehead, seconded by the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Paul Oatway QPM, it was:

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 5 October 2023, 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 welcomed Cllr Adrian Foster to the Committee. Cllr Foster would be replacing Cllr Sam Pearce-Kearney, who would now be a substitute.

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 26 October 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 30 October 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.

The Committee noted the rules on public participation.

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

On the proposal of the Chairman, seconded by Cllr Kelvin Nash, it was:

Resolved

To note the appeals report for the period between 22 September and 20 October 2023, subject to an amendment to note that the officer recommendation was to approve PL/2022/00977 Land to the north of Horton Road.

Creation of a community farm (including farmhouse), farm track and rural employment units and associated works (resubmission of PL/2022/02887).

Public Participation

·       Mr William Jameson – spoke in opposition to the application.

·       Ms Kerry Coleman – spoke in opposition to the application.

·       Ms Justine Hanson – spoke in opposition to the application.

·       Richard Cosker (RCC Town Planning) – spoke in support of the application.

·       Mr Will Harley (WH Landscape) – spoke in support of the application.

·       Mr Albert Wooldridge (Devizes Men’s Shed) – spoke in support of the application.

·       Potterne Parish Council – Cllr Richard Clark – spoke in opposition to the application.

The Senior Conservation and Planning Officer, Jonathan James, introduced a report which recommended that the application for the creation of a community farm, including a farmhouse, farm track, rural employment units and associated works, be rejected for the reasons outlined in the report. Key details were stated to include the principle of development, the quality of design, as well as the landscape, environmental, historical, drainage, parking and highway impacts.

Attention was drawn to the late correspondence that had been received in relation to the application, a letter of objection relating to issues such as access and housing provision. The Senior Conservation and Planning Officer confirmed that the points raised in this letter had already been considered in the report.

It was highlighted that the site fell primarily within the divisions of Devizes North, Devizes Rural West, but with part of the proposed farm track being in Devizes South. It was also noted that the Committee and Local Members had had the opportunity to attend a formal visit to the site as well as the nearby vantage point of Gilletts Farm.

The Senior Conservation and Planning Officer explained that the site was outside of the defined limits of development in Devizes and Potterne, so would have urbanising effect on the character and appearance of the countryside, a historical and attractive landscape. The overall development would therefore contradict a number of Wiltshire Core Strategies as outlined in the report, including Core Policy 51 (Landscape), Core Policy 34 (Additional Employment Land), Core Policy 2 (Delivery Strategy), Core Policy 1 (Settlement Strategy) and Core Policy 12 (Settlement Strategy for the Devizes Community Area). In addition, the proposals would contradict aspects of the Devizes Neighbourhood Development Plan as well as the principles set out in the National Planning Policy Framework 2023.

However, the Senior Conservation and Planning Officer, did note that, despite a number of objections based on road safety grounds, Wiltshire Council’s Highway Officer did not believe that there would be such a severe impact as to justify road safety as a reason for refusal. Whilst the Highway Officer acknowledged that the scheme would likely lead to an increase in traffic movements along Whistley Road, the increase would not have a significant detrimental effect.

It was noted that the proposal included the creation of a new access track to the east of the community farm towards the Hillworth Road area of Devizes, designed to provide all weather access for animals. The track would be approximately 1.3km long and join an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

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.