Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 22 August and 21 November 2024.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that they had deferred consideration of the minutes of their meeting held on 22 August 2024 as they were waiting for confirmation of the conditions for application PL/2024/01509: Townsend Farm Yard. The conditions for the application had now been finalised, so, on the proposal of the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman, it was then:

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22 August 2024 as a true and correct record.

On the proposal of the Chairman, seconded by Cllr Iain Wallis, it was then:

Resolved

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 21 November 2024, as a true and correct record.

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

In relation to Item 7, the Vice-Chairman noted for openness that he had worked for Wiltshire Police between 1971 and 2021. The application site was opposite Wiltshire Police’s headquarters and had previously been owned by the force. As this did not constitute a disclosable interest the Vice-Chairman remained in the room, took part in the discussion and voted on the item.

For transparency, Cllr Kelvin Nash and Cllr Iain Wallis noted that they were members of Devizes Town Council, who had commented on application PL/20204/03117, due to be considered under Item 7. They confirmed that they remained open minded and would vote on the application.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman reported to the Committee that the revised National Planning Policy Framework had just been published. The changes had come into effect immediately, so were relevant to the application being considered, PL/2024/03117, Land North of Quakers Road. However, he explained that officers were satisfied that it would not change their recommendation.

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 and others will have had the opportunity to make representations on planning applications and other items on the agenda, and to contact and lobby their local elected member and any other members of the planning committee, prior to the meeting.

Those circulating such information prior to the meeting, written or photographic, are advised to also provide a copy to the case officer for the application or item, in order to officially log the material as a representation, which will be verbally summarised at the meeting by the relevant officer, not included within any officer slide presentation if one is made. Circulation of new information which has not been verified by planning officers or case officers is also not permitted during the meetings.

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 5 December 2024 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 9 December 2024. 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 then:

Resolved

To note the planning appeals update for the period between 8 and 29 November 2024.

Residential development of 54 dwellings together with new vehicular accesses onto Parkfields and Quakers Road, parking, pedestrian links, areas of public open space and associated landscaping (Reserved Matters Application pursuant of outline application 21/02477/OUT relating to Appearance, Landscaping, Layout and Scale)

Public Participation

·       Mr Richard Ormerod (Trust for Devizes) – spoke opposition to aspects of the application, but felt the Committee had no alternative but to approve it.

·       Mr Kerry Rose – spoke in opposition to the application

·       Mr Simon Handy (Oxford Planning) – spoke in support of the application

The Planning Senior Officer, Ruaridh O’Donoghue introduced a report which recommended that the reserved matters application for the development of 54 dwellings, together with new vehicular accesses onto Parkfields and Quakers Road, parking, pedestrian links, areas of public open space and associated landscaping, be approved. Key details were stated to include the appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of the development.

Attention was drawn to the site plan on page 63 of the agenda pack. The officer explained that the application site also included three triangular areas of land, as shown in the drawing on page 38 of the pack.

The Committee were reminded that outline permission for up to 57 dwellings was granted on appeal by the inspector, after initially being refused by the Committee in 2022. The outline permission included approval for the access arrangements via both Quakers Road and Parkfields, so this was not something that the Committee were able to consider at the reserved matters stage. Although it was acknowledged that objections continued to be raised raised by third parties about the access via Parkfields, the inspector had found that increased traffic would not exceed the carrying capacity thresholds for the road and the highways team had not objected. Any changes to the access would have to be carried out by applying to amend the outline planning permission.

It was explained that the development would provide electric vehicle charging points at each property and was expected to deliver an overall Biodiversity Net Gain of 22.9 percent. The majority of the dwellings were two storey and were found to be in keeping with the material palette for the area. The layout was also broadly in keeping with the indicative proposals submitted as part of the outline application and would feature a central green area, which would provide amenity space for residents.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. Details were sought about who would be responsible for the maintenance of trees on the site during construction. It was explained that the applicant would enter into an ecological management plan that would oblige them to maintain the site until an estate management company was set up. This would be in addition to a separate Section 38 agreement which would cover the maintenance of roads, footways and parking bays. Wiltshire Council would not assure responsibility for the communal areas. 

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

The Unitary Division Member, Cllr Laura Mayes, then spoke in opposition to the application.

In response to the points raised by the public and Unitary Division Member, officers clarified that the dual access arrangement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

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.